QUEEN PELOSI and the Little People-- I don't care who you are, Democrat, Republican, Independent, liberal or conservative, blue state or red state, you have to be appalled at the sheer gall of this woman!
Pelosi wasn't happy with the small USAF C-20B jet, Gulfstream III that comes with the Speaker's job; she was aggravated that this little jet had to stop to refuel, so she ordered a Big Fat, 200-seat, USAF C-32, Boeing 757 jet that could get her back to California without stopping! I understand that a former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, flew commercial most of the time. Since Pelosi works only three days a week, this gas guzzling jet gets fueled and she flies home to California every Friday and we have to pay for her returns every Monday, at a cost to the taxpayers of about $60,000 one way! That is $480,000 per month. Keep in mind, this figure does not include the cost of plane or crew – just the fuel. Think of the military families doing without while this woman keeps fueling that jet at our expense. She wants us to buy smaller cars and to conserve our carbon footprint. And on top of this, now she wants to tax our IRA's & 401K's!
Look at History; see what happened to nations that allowed their leaders to put themselves before their nation. We can stop this drift and save our nation if we will; but if we don’t, the next generation may not have either the will or the power to do it.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
The Progresssive Movement
Progressive Churchmen Commend Communism
Observing the change in the church over the last few decades and feeling the loss of that which has been precious to us for generations, I tried desperately to be heard by writing a book— Beyond the Intention of Jesus, hoping that someone would take a stand with me against the progressive movement, known as Liberation Theology. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t more successful. But I understand now: It was too late to succeed! Liberation theology had already become the“preferred option,” not only of the “poor” but of the governments, universities and churches as well.
It’s too late to change the “main-line churches” that have accepted this evolving scheme, but how can we be silent! I am constantly reminded of our plight and, as in the case of Jeremiah the prophet, there is a fire burning in my bones, compelling me to speak out. In these essays I am speaking out, hoping that someone will listen and take a stand for God and truth, and perhaps accomplish something for Christ that I have not been able to do. If there is such a person out there, thank you in advance for your faith and courage. But let no one think it will be easy —leaves float with the tide; rocks stand against it.
Go back into the history of your church and recall how you used to have Bible studies and hear sermons from the Bible and sing biblical songs. Remember the sincere faith you received from your parents and your church when you were young. If you don’t have these special memories, perhaps you will have to ask someone in the previous generation. Compare what you remember or learn with the present theology of your church, the lack of interest they show in those who have not kept pace with their progressive theology, and their disdain for those who would dare to speak of the “old paths” and the “ancient wells;” observe your preacher’s failure to preach expository sermons from the Bible. While you are in a reflective mood, think of your own journey and see if you have also drifted. Is so, repent and return to the road you once traveled with Christ. It may take some effort on your part to get past the indifference that has so stealthily and gradually overtaken you and with which you have grown so familiar. But to see the light of grace again will be worth it all! Alexander Pope wrote of familiarity as follows:
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
Is to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
No wonder the Bible says, “Remember,” 232 times. Consider the trouble people have had because they failed to remember. “Remember, repent and return,” was the Lord’s instruction to the church at Ephesus. (Rev. 1:1-7) This is wonderful advice for the church today. Progressive deception has done its destructive work, leaving many uncertain about their faith and the truth of God they once held dear. Jesus is still saying, “Remember, repent and return.’
Missionary/Educator, “Communists are advocates of Christianity”
Dr. Otis Gatewood, a well-known minister in the Church of Christ, went to Germany as a missionary Soon after WW II. I learned about him when I became a Christian in 1950, and in 1960 I heard him speak at Michigan Christian College where he was president. I never heard of him again until 1989, when I was reading Dr. Fred Schwarz’s Christian Anti-Communism Crusade newsletter. Schwarz had written an article titled, “Evangelical Misinformation Concerning Communism,” in which he quoted an article from Dr. Gatewood’s mission paper, World Wide Contact Vol. XXIII No.3. The article was as follows:
“The communists themselves are in some ways advocates of Christianity. They teach truthfulness, honesty, thrift, industry, dedication, equality of all, monogamy, chastity, sobriety, diligence, obedience, humility, patience, love and honor in the family, productivity, fruitfulness, and they erect great school and hospitals, and give support to the aged. All these things are fruits of Christianity. The communists are, in many respects, practicing Christians. One Communist guide in Kiev pointed with pride to the statue of Prince Vladimir, on the banks of the Drieper River, who brought Christianity to the Soviet Union. I asked: ‘Have things been better since Christianity was brought to the Soviet Union?’ She replied: “Very definitely because before Christianity came here our people worshiped stones. Now we worship God.’ They deny God, yet they confess him, not only in action, but also in word.”
I was about as stunned as Dr. Schwarz was to read this from a Christian preacher, missionary and college president in an ultra-conservative church. But then I realized that Marxism is no respecter of persons—it gets into the mind and heart of preachers, teachers, missionaries and educators the same as it does the peasants. And once it does it stays there for a lifetime.
Missionary/Author, “Communism is an example for a reluctant church”
Dr. E. Stanley Jones, a prominent Methodist minister, author and missionary to India for many years, took the same turn Gatewood did. I have always loved Jones’ books and I was greatly inspired by a sermon I heard him preach on The Unshakeable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person in 1973, which became the title of his book later that year. I regarded him as a true believer and a great preacher, but I didn’t understand that he was equating the Kingdom of God with global socialism until I read his book.
When Stanley Jones was young he wrote the following: “I found…in Russia during a visit in 1934…the communists…building up a civilization without God, and doing it enthusiastically. The young people carrying earth out of the subway were chanting, ‘We are making a new world.’” (The Unshakeable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person, Abingdon Press, NY 1974, p. 32)
When Stanley Jones was old he wrote this: “When the Western world was flourishing in an unjust and competitive order, the church was bound up with it and was a part of that order, God reached out and put his hand on the Russian Communists to produce a just order and to show a reluctant church what it has missed in its own Gospel…To the degree that the Communists have caught the meaning of the Kingdom of God and have embodied them, they are a part of that Kingdom, even if they repudiate that Kingdom.” (Pastor Herman J. Otten, Baal or God, Lutheran News, New Haven, MO, p. 88)
First, Jones saw the Russian Communists “building a civilization without God,” but later he saw that “God reached out and put his hand on the Russian Communists to produce a just order and to show a reluctant church what it has missed in its own Gospel. This is Marxist liberation theology exemplified.
Conclusion
Now communism is old and Stanley Jones is gone. As communism was aging, a radical young
Liberation Theology Movement came of age. And after communism was deeply imbedded in society, this movement began to drop its title and become a part of the Progressive Movement. As communism is a cancer on the world, religious communism, in the form of liberation theologians, is a cancer on the church and university. But in time liberationists will be old also and will go the way of their Communist Party comrades, while the faithful remnant of God, which will always be young, will march triumphantly on. The glory that is Marxism will have passed away, taking millions of souls with it, and the liberationists with their unbelieving churches will have followed their demise.
When our churches were young people sang “Back to the Blessed Old Bible” and “There Is Power in the Blood,” but now that they too are old, they sing of a false liberation and a political kingdom, which have no place for either the Bible or the Blood.
Lenin said, “As long as capitalism and socialism coexist, we can not live in peace; in the end, one or the other of us will triumph—a funeral dirge will be sung over the Soviet Republic or over world capitalism.”
Some of us, who were contemporaries of Lenin (I was born a year before he died in 1924), belong to the Christian remnant who sang a funeral dirge over the Soviet Republic. But millions, like Otis Gatewood and Stanley Jones, heard the Marxist call fir liberation and left the doctrine of Jesus Christ for the propaganda of Karl Marx. They too defend Marxism by their demand for “peace and justice, i.e., yielding to socialist control and distributing the welt of the rich. But God will always have a remnant, which will stand up for Christ and speak out against this progressive socialism in our drifting nation and churches, and will remain standing to sing the funeral dirge over the Marxist Liberation Theology Movement. Perhaps we will sing about the Progressive Movement from the Gnostics to the liberationists, how it deceived and destroyed souls, and how the saints of God stood up for their Lord and fought it until its demise. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Observing the change in the church over the last few decades and feeling the loss of that which has been precious to us for generations, I tried desperately to be heard by writing a book— Beyond the Intention of Jesus, hoping that someone would take a stand with me against the progressive movement, known as Liberation Theology. I didn’t understand why I wasn’t more successful. But I understand now: It was too late to succeed! Liberation theology had already become the“preferred option,” not only of the “poor” but of the governments, universities and churches as well.
It’s too late to change the “main-line churches” that have accepted this evolving scheme, but how can we be silent! I am constantly reminded of our plight and, as in the case of Jeremiah the prophet, there is a fire burning in my bones, compelling me to speak out. In these essays I am speaking out, hoping that someone will listen and take a stand for God and truth, and perhaps accomplish something for Christ that I have not been able to do. If there is such a person out there, thank you in advance for your faith and courage. But let no one think it will be easy —leaves float with the tide; rocks stand against it.
Go back into the history of your church and recall how you used to have Bible studies and hear sermons from the Bible and sing biblical songs. Remember the sincere faith you received from your parents and your church when you were young. If you don’t have these special memories, perhaps you will have to ask someone in the previous generation. Compare what you remember or learn with the present theology of your church, the lack of interest they show in those who have not kept pace with their progressive theology, and their disdain for those who would dare to speak of the “old paths” and the “ancient wells;” observe your preacher’s failure to preach expository sermons from the Bible. While you are in a reflective mood, think of your own journey and see if you have also drifted. Is so, repent and return to the road you once traveled with Christ. It may take some effort on your part to get past the indifference that has so stealthily and gradually overtaken you and with which you have grown so familiar. But to see the light of grace again will be worth it all! Alexander Pope wrote of familiarity as follows:
Vice is a monster of so frightful mien
Is to be hated needs but to be seen;
Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.
No wonder the Bible says, “Remember,” 232 times. Consider the trouble people have had because they failed to remember. “Remember, repent and return,” was the Lord’s instruction to the church at Ephesus. (Rev. 1:1-7) This is wonderful advice for the church today. Progressive deception has done its destructive work, leaving many uncertain about their faith and the truth of God they once held dear. Jesus is still saying, “Remember, repent and return.’
Missionary/Educator, “Communists are advocates of Christianity”
Dr. Otis Gatewood, a well-known minister in the Church of Christ, went to Germany as a missionary Soon after WW II. I learned about him when I became a Christian in 1950, and in 1960 I heard him speak at Michigan Christian College where he was president. I never heard of him again until 1989, when I was reading Dr. Fred Schwarz’s Christian Anti-Communism Crusade newsletter. Schwarz had written an article titled, “Evangelical Misinformation Concerning Communism,” in which he quoted an article from Dr. Gatewood’s mission paper, World Wide Contact Vol. XXIII No.3. The article was as follows:
“The communists themselves are in some ways advocates of Christianity. They teach truthfulness, honesty, thrift, industry, dedication, equality of all, monogamy, chastity, sobriety, diligence, obedience, humility, patience, love and honor in the family, productivity, fruitfulness, and they erect great school and hospitals, and give support to the aged. All these things are fruits of Christianity. The communists are, in many respects, practicing Christians. One Communist guide in Kiev pointed with pride to the statue of Prince Vladimir, on the banks of the Drieper River, who brought Christianity to the Soviet Union. I asked: ‘Have things been better since Christianity was brought to the Soviet Union?’ She replied: “Very definitely because before Christianity came here our people worshiped stones. Now we worship God.’ They deny God, yet they confess him, not only in action, but also in word.”
I was about as stunned as Dr. Schwarz was to read this from a Christian preacher, missionary and college president in an ultra-conservative church. But then I realized that Marxism is no respecter of persons—it gets into the mind and heart of preachers, teachers, missionaries and educators the same as it does the peasants. And once it does it stays there for a lifetime.
Missionary/Author, “Communism is an example for a reluctant church”
Dr. E. Stanley Jones, a prominent Methodist minister, author and missionary to India for many years, took the same turn Gatewood did. I have always loved Jones’ books and I was greatly inspired by a sermon I heard him preach on The Unshakeable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person in 1973, which became the title of his book later that year. I regarded him as a true believer and a great preacher, but I didn’t understand that he was equating the Kingdom of God with global socialism until I read his book.
When Stanley Jones was young he wrote the following: “I found…in Russia during a visit in 1934…the communists…building up a civilization without God, and doing it enthusiastically. The young people carrying earth out of the subway were chanting, ‘We are making a new world.’” (The Unshakeable Kingdom and the Unchanging Person, Abingdon Press, NY 1974, p. 32)
When Stanley Jones was old he wrote this: “When the Western world was flourishing in an unjust and competitive order, the church was bound up with it and was a part of that order, God reached out and put his hand on the Russian Communists to produce a just order and to show a reluctant church what it has missed in its own Gospel…To the degree that the Communists have caught the meaning of the Kingdom of God and have embodied them, they are a part of that Kingdom, even if they repudiate that Kingdom.” (Pastor Herman J. Otten, Baal or God, Lutheran News, New Haven, MO, p. 88)
First, Jones saw the Russian Communists “building a civilization without God,” but later he saw that “God reached out and put his hand on the Russian Communists to produce a just order and to show a reluctant church what it has missed in its own Gospel. This is Marxist liberation theology exemplified.
Conclusion
Now communism is old and Stanley Jones is gone. As communism was aging, a radical young
Liberation Theology Movement came of age. And after communism was deeply imbedded in society, this movement began to drop its title and become a part of the Progressive Movement. As communism is a cancer on the world, religious communism, in the form of liberation theologians, is a cancer on the church and university. But in time liberationists will be old also and will go the way of their Communist Party comrades, while the faithful remnant of God, which will always be young, will march triumphantly on. The glory that is Marxism will have passed away, taking millions of souls with it, and the liberationists with their unbelieving churches will have followed their demise.
When our churches were young people sang “Back to the Blessed Old Bible” and “There Is Power in the Blood,” but now that they too are old, they sing of a false liberation and a political kingdom, which have no place for either the Bible or the Blood.
Lenin said, “As long as capitalism and socialism coexist, we can not live in peace; in the end, one or the other of us will triumph—a funeral dirge will be sung over the Soviet Republic or over world capitalism.”
Some of us, who were contemporaries of Lenin (I was born a year before he died in 1924), belong to the Christian remnant who sang a funeral dirge over the Soviet Republic. But millions, like Otis Gatewood and Stanley Jones, heard the Marxist call fir liberation and left the doctrine of Jesus Christ for the propaganda of Karl Marx. They too defend Marxism by their demand for “peace and justice, i.e., yielding to socialist control and distributing the welt of the rich. But God will always have a remnant, which will stand up for Christ and speak out against this progressive socialism in our drifting nation and churches, and will remain standing to sing the funeral dirge over the Marxist Liberation Theology Movement. Perhaps we will sing about the Progressive Movement from the Gnostics to the liberationists, how it deceived and destroyed souls, and how the saints of God stood up for their Lord and fought it until its demise. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Don't Cry For Me, Argentina (America)
In the early 20th century, Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world. While Great Britain’s maritime power and its far-flung empire had propelled it to a dominant position among the world's industrialized nations, only the United States challenged Argentina for the position of the world's second-most powerful economy.
It was blessed with abundant agriculture, vast swaths of rich farmland laced with navigable rivers and an accessible port system. Its level of industrialization was higher than many European countries: railroads, automobiles and telephones were commonplace
In 1916, a new president was elected. Hipólito Irigoyen had formed a party called The Radicals under the banner of "fundamental change" with an appeal to the middle class.
Among Irigoyen's changes: mandatory pension insurance, mandatory health insurance, and support for low-income housing construction to stimulate the economy. Put simply, the state assumed economic control of a vast swath of the country's operations and began assessing new payroll taxes to fund its efforts.
With an increasing flow of funds into these entitlement programs, the government's payouts soon became overly generous. Before long its outlays surpassed the value of the taxpayers' contributions. Put simply, it quickly became under-funded, much like the United States ' Social Security and Medicare programs.
The death knell for the Argentine economy, however, came with the election of Juan Perón. Perón had a fascist and corporatist upbringing; he and his charismatic wife aimed their populist rhetoric at the nation's rich.
This targeted group "swiftly expanded to cover most of the propertied middle classes, who became an enemy to be defeated and humiliated.
Under Perón, the size of government bureaucracies exploded through massive programs of social spending and by encouraging the growth of labor unions.
High taxes and economic mismanagement took their inevitable toll even after Perón had been driven from office. But his populist rhetoric and "contempt for economic realities" lived on. Argentina’s federal government continued to spend far beyond its means.
Hyperinflation exploded in 1989 and the final stage of a process characterized by "industrial protectionism, redistribution of income based on increased wages, and growing state intervention in the economy was the result.
The Argentinean government's practice of printing money to pay off its public debts had crushed the economy. Inflation hit 3000%, reminiscent of the Weimar Republic. Food riots were rampant; stores were looted; the country descended into chaos.
And by 1994, Argentina’s public pensions - the equivalent of Social Security - had imploded. The payroll tax had increased from 5% to 26%, but it wasn't enough. In addition, Argentina had implemented a value-added tax (VAT), new income taxes, a personal tax on wealth, and additional revenues based upon the sale of public enterprises. These crushed the private sector, further damaging the economy.
A government-controlled "privatization" effort to rescue seniors' pensions was attempted. But, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government, the monies replaced by Argentina’s defaulted government bonds.
By 2002, government fiscal irresponsibility induced a national economic crisis as severe as America’s Great Depression.
In 1902 Argentina was one of the world's richest countries. Little more than a hundred years later, it is poverty-stricken and struggling to survive.
We've seen this movie before. The Democrats' populist plans can't possibly work, because government bankrupts everything it touches. History teaches us that ObamaCare and unfunded entitlement programs will be utter, complete disasters.
It was blessed with abundant agriculture, vast swaths of rich farmland laced with navigable rivers and an accessible port system. Its level of industrialization was higher than many European countries: railroads, automobiles and telephones were commonplace
In 1916, a new president was elected. Hipólito Irigoyen had formed a party called The Radicals under the banner of "fundamental change" with an appeal to the middle class.
Among Irigoyen's changes: mandatory pension insurance, mandatory health insurance, and support for low-income housing construction to stimulate the economy. Put simply, the state assumed economic control of a vast swath of the country's operations and began assessing new payroll taxes to fund its efforts.
With an increasing flow of funds into these entitlement programs, the government's payouts soon became overly generous. Before long its outlays surpassed the value of the taxpayers' contributions. Put simply, it quickly became under-funded, much like the United States ' Social Security and Medicare programs.
The death knell for the Argentine economy, however, came with the election of Juan Perón. Perón had a fascist and corporatist upbringing; he and his charismatic wife aimed their populist rhetoric at the nation's rich.
This targeted group "swiftly expanded to cover most of the propertied middle classes, who became an enemy to be defeated and humiliated.
Under Perón, the size of government bureaucracies exploded through massive programs of social spending and by encouraging the growth of labor unions.
High taxes and economic mismanagement took their inevitable toll even after Perón had been driven from office. But his populist rhetoric and "contempt for economic realities" lived on. Argentina’s federal government continued to spend far beyond its means.
Hyperinflation exploded in 1989 and the final stage of a process characterized by "industrial protectionism, redistribution of income based on increased wages, and growing state intervention in the economy was the result.
The Argentinean government's practice of printing money to pay off its public debts had crushed the economy. Inflation hit 3000%, reminiscent of the Weimar Republic. Food riots were rampant; stores were looted; the country descended into chaos.
And by 1994, Argentina’s public pensions - the equivalent of Social Security - had imploded. The payroll tax had increased from 5% to 26%, but it wasn't enough. In addition, Argentina had implemented a value-added tax (VAT), new income taxes, a personal tax on wealth, and additional revenues based upon the sale of public enterprises. These crushed the private sector, further damaging the economy.
A government-controlled "privatization" effort to rescue seniors' pensions was attempted. But, by 2001, those funds had also been raided by the government, the monies replaced by Argentina’s defaulted government bonds.
By 2002, government fiscal irresponsibility induced a national economic crisis as severe as America’s Great Depression.
In 1902 Argentina was one of the world's richest countries. Little more than a hundred years later, it is poverty-stricken and struggling to survive.
We've seen this movie before. The Democrats' populist plans can't possibly work, because government bankrupts everything it touches. History teaches us that ObamaCare and unfunded entitlement programs will be utter, complete disasters.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Progressive Radicals
Karl Marx; Vladimir Linen and Saul Alinsky
1. Marx was impressed with Hegel’s dialectic idealism and Feuerbach’s progressive materialism, so he married them and called the union “dialectic materialism.”
2. Lenin became obsessed with Marx’s dialectic materialism, so he enforced it and changed the Russian Republic into the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR)
3. Alinsky was born in Chicago in 1909 and came to prominence during the first half of the 20th century. His book, Handbook for Radicals, had a great influence on both Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama in Chicago. Hillary wrote a critique of Alinsky’s book as a college thesis, which she titled There is Only the Fight. She had learned Alinsky’s method well and was ready to implement it. When her husband was elected president, she gleefully announced, “You got two for the price of one,” and jumped right in writing a socialist health care bill—just as the progressive Democrats in congress are doing in the Obama administration.
Barak Obama, James Cone, Bill Ayers, Pastor Wright and Michelle Obama
1. Barak Obama, a socialist community (union) organizer in Chicago, teaching the Alinsky method. He was also a member of Wright's church for twenty years, while Wright was preaching James Cone's radical black liberation theology
2. James Cone, founder of Black Theology and Black Power. He developed his Black Theology by combining the teaching of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. He became angry and ugly like Malcolm X and Louis Farrakhan, and told his followers to kill nonconformist, even their parents. And then he became a professor of theology at Union Theological Seminary.
3. Bill Ayers of the Weather Underground gang, who went around blowing up things, became a professor at Chicago University.
4. Pastor Jeremiah Wright has been under Cone’s spell for many years and is an angry man, just as his mentor. We heard him invoke God’s Name as he cursed America.
5. Michelle Obama, like her husband, was a radical activist in Chicago, but she doesn’t have the patience her husband has. When Barak won the election she said, “This is the first time in my life that I have been proud of America.” And while true patriots praise America’s goodness, she showed her contempt by saying, “America is downright mean.”
Comments: These activist radicals prefer world government to national soverignty; hence they are attempting to bring all nations under United Nations control. This is why we see so many socialists in government, working to change America into a socialist nation. All free nations that have fallen to communism have first fallen to socialism; the major difference between the two is their different shades of red.
In this series of essays, I want to give you an inside look at black liberation theology and its consequences. (I will have a brief series on liberation theology very soon). I also want you to know about contextual theology, feminine theology, gay theology and other varieties that reside under the liberation theology umbrella. And in order to understand what is happening to our constitutional government, we shall look into President Obama’s belief system, as well as that of Pastor Wright who preaches black theology according to James Cone rather than the Gospel of Christ according to the Bible. James Cone, Wright’s mentor, wrote Black Theology and Black Power forty years ago, which set black churches on a revolutionary quest for power and their own theology. Under the influence of Karl Marx, they believe that socialism must triumph over capitalism, blacks must subdue and subjugate whites, and the wealthy must be made to share their wealth (“spread the wealth around,” as Obama says). This is the old Marxist doctrine of thesis, antithesis and synthesis, which says that the thesis (capitalism) must be provoked to struggle with its antithesis (anti-capitalists) until a new thesis (socialism) is formed. This struggle will continue until socialisms developers into full-blown communism where everyone will be equal and share alike, and in the mind of religious Marxists, this perfect socialist (communist) state will be the Kingdom of God on earth. This process is the Marxist philosophy of history and the socialists’ dream of global unity. God, Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Bible and everything else that gets in the way of this progressive movement has to be rejected, renamed, ignored or destroyed in this quest for peace and justice. They say that peace will come with the cessation of conflict (when socialism takes control and destroys capitalism), and justice will be realized when wealth is distributed and everyone shares alike. Oops! There goes our national sovereignty and power, our independence and freedom, and our entire democratic form of government!
Don’t let anyone deceive you; we are in a struggle for survival. Both Marx and Lenin taught that the thesis (the capitalist free market system) is to be provoked by its antithesis (socialist forces) and engaged in a struggle for control. While democracy is fair and just, Marx and Linen taught that whatever means is necessary to accomplish a task is justified by the end result. This is what we are up against. Think for a moment about the presemnt congressional conflict over money, health care, stimulus packages, and progressive government control. All of thse are, at thteierheart, a socialist struggle with democracy for dominance. At present the liberals, many of whom are socialists, have almost complete control, but better times and a better nation are coming, just you wait (vote) and see! (If you want more information on the above persons, type their names in Google search).
Friday, January 8, 2010
Progressive Change
Vlatimir Lenin said, "Change! Change! Workers of the world unite! We are building a new world! We will distribute the wealth." This is Lenin’s Socialism that became Communism and changed Russia into the United Socialist States of Russia (USSR).
Barak bama said, "Change! Change! Change we need! Change we can believe in! We will “spread the wealth around and everyone will prosper. Yes we can!" This is Obama’s Socialism, which, if not corrected, will change the United States of America into the United Socialist Sates of America (USSA). We heard him say, “We must change America.” "We are only five days away from transforming America.”
Obama is following Lenin, who said, “Change is predetermined and progress is inherent in change.”
The purpose of this essay is to show that the Progressive Socialist’s mindset extends from Karl Marx through Vladimir Lenin and on to include Barak Obama.
Socialism:
A political theory advocating state ownership of industry
An economic system based on state ownership of capital
A political/ economical transition from Capitalism to Communism
Economic Justice:
Since it seems unfair for some to be rich while others are poor, the progressive have coined the phrase, “Economic justice,” which means “leveling the playing field” by taking from those who have and giving it to those who have not. In Obama’s own words, “Economic justice simply means punishing the successful and redistributing their wealth by government fiat. It’s an euphemism for socialism.” Again, “I’ve been working my entire adult life to help build an America where economic justice is being served. And as president, we’ll insure that economic justice is served. That’s what this election is about.” NAACP speech (And that’s what this essay is all about. LW)
As I was studying progressive philosophy, much of which dealt with Vladimir Lenin, I was at the same time observing what Barak Obama was saying on the same subjects. The more I listened and read, the more I became aware that Lenin and Obama were saying the same things. It was as if they were both following the same leader and reading the same book. Then, a light came on! They were following the same leader and reading the same book—Karl Marx and his Communist Manifesto. One strong similarity between Lenin and Obama is that they both called for change. When this became clear in my mind, I decided to title my essay “Progressive Change,” and hurried to my computer to begin writing. The first thing I did was search for “Change, Lenin and Obama,” on the web, perhaps I could find a few choice quotations. Can you imagine my surprise upon finding pages and pages of the very thing I had been planning to write about? I found a number of parallel quotations from these two men, which others had submitted to Google. I urge anyone who wants to read more about these two progressive men to enter “Change Lenin Obama” or “Quotations Lenin Obama” into Google, where you will find more than you will want to read. You must understand that Lenin was a strong Socialist, who became the leading Communist of his time by following Karl Marx and founding the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Obama has revealed by his words and actions, that he is also a socialist. Most of us don’t want Marx and Lenin to change our Democracy into a Socialist State; nor should we allow Obama to do so.
Thousands of books, political magazines, TV personalities and citizens who understand what is happening are shouting warnings from the house tops. But is anyone listening? Are you? We are in the identical position of the Jews when the prophets warned them of destruction. Or like Rome that disintegrated from within. Perhaps our best modern example is Germany when Hitler imposed national socialist upon it. In each of these cases the masses lost their freedom and their lives, simply because they followed a deceptive leader. Don’t we have the same kind of leader? And aren’t we also following him?
Lenin and Obama are both socialists, saying the same things and working for the same goal – universal socialism. I intended listing a page of their quotations but I found them so numerous that I suggest you go to the web for them. I’m not listing any specific web address because there are so many of them on the web that make my point. For example Lenin said, “The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debunk the currency.” And he advocated government ownership of the means of production, which would destroy private enterprise. Wouldn’t you say that the devaluation of the dollar, the take over of the banks, gaining controlling interest in motor companies and government controlled health care are the very things Lenin advocated? And our people are shouting praises for Obama as he leads us down the Lenin path. If communist Lenin was red, socialist Obama is certainly pink. And pink socialism is red when it ripens.
On another matter Lenin said, “The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.” Obama has constantly spoken of being a “community organizer in Chicago.” Please go to the web, as I suggested above, and read more on the Lenin-Obama comparison; you will find many Obama quotations such as the following:
“To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully: The more politically active black students, the foreign students, the Chicanos and the Marxist professors.” “My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you will join me as we try to change it.” (If it is the greatest nation in the history of the world, being a Capitalist Republic, why would we want to change it into a socialist nation run by the government? We must change the president, not the nation. LW)
Note: There has always been “progressives,” using various titles; the most deceptive of recent time has been “Liberation Theology.” For this reason, I plan to start a series of essays on this subject very soon. Nothing has been more destructive than this unbiblical Marxist philosophy, which began in Latin America and in 1968 was declared by the bishops to be, “The preferred option for the poor.” Now it is the preferred option for governments, universities, churches and peoples of the world.
Barak bama said, "Change! Change! Change we need! Change we can believe in! We will “spread the wealth around and everyone will prosper. Yes we can!" This is Obama’s Socialism, which, if not corrected, will change the United States of America into the United Socialist Sates of America (USSA). We heard him say, “We must change America.” "We are only five days away from transforming America.”
Obama is following Lenin, who said, “Change is predetermined and progress is inherent in change.”
The purpose of this essay is to show that the Progressive Socialist’s mindset extends from Karl Marx through Vladimir Lenin and on to include Barak Obama.
Socialism:
A political theory advocating state ownership of industry
An economic system based on state ownership of capital
A political/ economical transition from Capitalism to Communism
Economic Justice:
Since it seems unfair for some to be rich while others are poor, the progressive have coined the phrase, “Economic justice,” which means “leveling the playing field” by taking from those who have and giving it to those who have not. In Obama’s own words, “Economic justice simply means punishing the successful and redistributing their wealth by government fiat. It’s an euphemism for socialism.” Again, “I’ve been working my entire adult life to help build an America where economic justice is being served. And as president, we’ll insure that economic justice is served. That’s what this election is about.” NAACP speech (And that’s what this essay is all about. LW)
As I was studying progressive philosophy, much of which dealt with Vladimir Lenin, I was at the same time observing what Barak Obama was saying on the same subjects. The more I listened and read, the more I became aware that Lenin and Obama were saying the same things. It was as if they were both following the same leader and reading the same book. Then, a light came on! They were following the same leader and reading the same book—Karl Marx and his Communist Manifesto. One strong similarity between Lenin and Obama is that they both called for change. When this became clear in my mind, I decided to title my essay “Progressive Change,” and hurried to my computer to begin writing. The first thing I did was search for “Change, Lenin and Obama,” on the web, perhaps I could find a few choice quotations. Can you imagine my surprise upon finding pages and pages of the very thing I had been planning to write about? I found a number of parallel quotations from these two men, which others had submitted to Google. I urge anyone who wants to read more about these two progressive men to enter “Change Lenin Obama” or “Quotations Lenin Obama” into Google, where you will find more than you will want to read. You must understand that Lenin was a strong Socialist, who became the leading Communist of his time by following Karl Marx and founding the United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR). Obama has revealed by his words and actions, that he is also a socialist. Most of us don’t want Marx and Lenin to change our Democracy into a Socialist State; nor should we allow Obama to do so.
Thousands of books, political magazines, TV personalities and citizens who understand what is happening are shouting warnings from the house tops. But is anyone listening? Are you? We are in the identical position of the Jews when the prophets warned them of destruction. Or like Rome that disintegrated from within. Perhaps our best modern example is Germany when Hitler imposed national socialist upon it. In each of these cases the masses lost their freedom and their lives, simply because they followed a deceptive leader. Don’t we have the same kind of leader? And aren’t we also following him?
Lenin and Obama are both socialists, saying the same things and working for the same goal – universal socialism. I intended listing a page of their quotations but I found them so numerous that I suggest you go to the web for them. I’m not listing any specific web address because there are so many of them on the web that make my point. For example Lenin said, “The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debunk the currency.” And he advocated government ownership of the means of production, which would destroy private enterprise. Wouldn’t you say that the devaluation of the dollar, the take over of the banks, gaining controlling interest in motor companies and government controlled health care are the very things Lenin advocated? And our people are shouting praises for Obama as he leads us down the Lenin path. If communist Lenin was red, socialist Obama is certainly pink. And pink socialism is red when it ripens.
On another matter Lenin said, “The press should be not only a collective propagandist and a collective agitator, but also a collective organizer of the masses.” Obama has constantly spoken of being a “community organizer in Chicago.” Please go to the web, as I suggested above, and read more on the Lenin-Obama comparison; you will find many Obama quotations such as the following:
“To avoid being mistaken for a sellout, I chose my friends carefully: The more politically active black students, the foreign students, the Chicanos and the Marxist professors.” “My friends, we live in the greatest nation in the history of the world. I hope you will join me as we try to change it.” (If it is the greatest nation in the history of the world, being a Capitalist Republic, why would we want to change it into a socialist nation run by the government? We must change the president, not the nation. LW)
Note: There has always been “progressives,” using various titles; the most deceptive of recent time has been “Liberation Theology.” For this reason, I plan to start a series of essays on this subject very soon. Nothing has been more destructive than this unbiblical Marxist philosophy, which began in Latin America and in 1968 was declared by the bishops to be, “The preferred option for the poor.” Now it is the preferred option for governments, universities, churches and peoples of the world.
Friday, July 24, 2009
A First Person Reading of Romans Eight
You may have enjoyed this series of essays on Romans 8, even learned a number of facts that you didn’t understand before; but do you feel that you own this chapter? Does it hold an important place in your life? Does a better understanding of it motivate you to share it with others? If this has been only a study of theology, no matter how thoroughly you have learned this chapter, you still have a long way to go. You need to keep studying until you make this chapter your own. I began my study of Romans with the greatest of interest in the spring of 1951 and was so moved by it that I entered the ministry that summer, compelled to share it with others for the next 58 years. While I was learning Romans, this inspired letter was possessing me. This series of essays on chapter eight is the culmination of my effort and the crowing achievement of my ministry. All along I have thought that these essays are too brief and simple, but in my heart I know this is the best way to teach. Wasn’t this how Jesus taught? And wasn’t this Paul’s method—even in a difficult letter like Romans? His themes are lofty and logical, yet simple and profound, and so appealing to the hearts of those who have hearts for God that anyone who tries will find the necessary food for a spiritual life. I want everyone who has been with me in this study to learn what I have learned and to enjoy the experiences I have had in this—the greatest letter ever written.
In this, the last essay on Romans 8, I am asking you to make a journey by yourself through this, the most encouraging chapter in the Bible. Read the verses as they are presented, study the comments following each reading, and pause to reflect and pray over what you have read. Set your mind to learn and to gain the great blessings of this chapter. When you feel that you must share what you have gained with others, you will know that your heart has been captured by the Holy Spirit and you will be closer to the Lord than you have ever been. You will have faith and joy beyond all you have ever known. If you chose to share your experiences with me, I will add your response to my next essay and thank you for your contribution to our study. May God bless you abundantly on your journey.
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
“No condemnation!” Is this true? Why then have I felt guilty and condemned? I realize now that it is because I didn’t have faith enough to accept God’s grace and what my Savior has done for me. True believers are free from the sins of their past and their forgiveness is free for the asking. If the Spirit has set me free from the rule of sin and death, I am “free indeed,” as Jesus said. Jesus didn’t come to condemn me but to condemn the sin in me. I believe this. I accept this. There is no reason for me ever to feel condemned again. My mind goes back to my early life, my church connection and the guilt built up in my by those who influenced my life, but that was then; it has nothing to do with my present peace and joy in Christ. Jesus has given me life through His Spirit who dwells in me; I am content to live this life and forget the past. “Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
12So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- 13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
So then, I have no obligation to my flesh but to the Spirit, who puts to death the passions and deeds of my body and gives me life. I gladly receive my adoption and joyfully call God my Father. I have no concern about what others may think of my faith and church affiliation, except that I want to be an example for Christ. I have two witnesses that I am a child of God—the Holy Spirit and my spirit. I shall never doubt this. Thank God, I am free.
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
I have taken my suffering far too seriously. The whole creation suffers, waiting to be delivered. Those who have the first fruits of the Spirit have always suffered while waiting for the redemption of their bodies. I cannot, by my own will, arrange to have a life of peace and joy, but I can live in hope and with patience for it. In this way I am led by the Holy Spirit and not just trying to please my flesh. My hope is in Christ, and I intend to staying close to Him. This is my life. In this life of confusion and conflict, thank God for hope.
26In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are (called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Prayer has always been a problem for me. Am I really talking to God or to myself? Do I have sufficient faith to expect God to hear and answer? Am I really praying of just saying prayers? What happens when I get quiet and start to pray but can’t find the words? I must believe that the Holy Spirit intercedes for me, even when I can only groan. God knows my heart and He will attend to my need.
God causes all things in my life to work together for my good because I love Him and He has called me according to His purpose. I shall be glad in His will and not be sad in mine. It is so good to know that in His foreknowledge I was predestined (appointed) to be justified, sanctified and glorified. Praise Him for His glorious grace!
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us? 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How can I possibly thank God enough? What shall I say? How can I express, or even comprehend, my position in Christ, who set me free and gave me such blessings? In this position, who can be against me? God delivered His own Son to die for me, and He adopted me as His son; this nullifies all the charges others may bring against me. God justified me; it is not possible that anyone could condemn me. To do so would be to nullify God’s grace and overturn His decree, and this is not possible. Christ is on my side, interceding for me, why should anyone presume to have power over His intercession? In all things I will be given strength to overwhelmingly conquer through Christ who loves me. Thank God, I have joy unspeakable and full of glory.
This is what this chapter says and this is what it means! I must remember this and never again question my position in Christ or my standing with God. If you are right with God you are a righteous person, and you may make this great chapter your own. It will give you assurance and comfort and empower you for the rest of your life.
Thus ends our study of Romans eight. Has it been helpful?
I have been posting these True Beleier Essays weekly for six months and have not received a single comment. If anyone is reading them and would like to continue doing so, please let me know and I will continue posting them. Otherwise, this will be the last essay posted. ____________________________
Joel sent me the following quotation after my last essay on unspeakable joy. “Spiritual joy is: The settled conviction that God sovereignly controls the events of life for the believers’ good and His glory. Spiritual joy is not an attitude dependent on chance or circumstance. It is the deep and abiding confidence that regardless of one’s circumstances in life, all is well between the believer and the Lord.--John MacArthur
In this, the last essay on Romans 8, I am asking you to make a journey by yourself through this, the most encouraging chapter in the Bible. Read the verses as they are presented, study the comments following each reading, and pause to reflect and pray over what you have read. Set your mind to learn and to gain the great blessings of this chapter. When you feel that you must share what you have gained with others, you will know that your heart has been captured by the Holy Spirit and you will be closer to the Lord than you have ever been. You will have faith and joy beyond all you have ever known. If you chose to share your experiences with me, I will add your response to my next essay and thank you for your contribution to our study. May God bless you abundantly on your journey.
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
“No condemnation!” Is this true? Why then have I felt guilty and condemned? I realize now that it is because I didn’t have faith enough to accept God’s grace and what my Savior has done for me. True believers are free from the sins of their past and their forgiveness is free for the asking. If the Spirit has set me free from the rule of sin and death, I am “free indeed,” as Jesus said. Jesus didn’t come to condemn me but to condemn the sin in me. I believe this. I accept this. There is no reason for me ever to feel condemned again. My mind goes back to my early life, my church connection and the guilt built up in my by those who influenced my life, but that was then; it has nothing to do with my present peace and joy in Christ. Jesus has given me life through His Spirit who dwells in me; I am content to live this life and forget the past. “Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
12So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-- 13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.
So then, I have no obligation to my flesh but to the Spirit, who puts to death the passions and deeds of my body and gives me life. I gladly receive my adoption and joyfully call God my Father. I have no concern about what others may think of my faith and church affiliation, except that I want to be an example for Christ. I have two witnesses that I am a child of God—the Holy Spirit and my spirit. I shall never doubt this. Thank God, I am free.
18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.
I have taken my suffering far too seriously. The whole creation suffers, waiting to be delivered. Those who have the first fruits of the Spirit have always suffered while waiting for the redemption of their bodies. I cannot, by my own will, arrange to have a life of peace and joy, but I can live in hope and with patience for it. In this way I am led by the Holy Spirit and not just trying to please my flesh. My hope is in Christ, and I intend to staying close to Him. This is my life. In this life of confusion and conflict, thank God for hope.
26In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are (called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
Prayer has always been a problem for me. Am I really talking to God or to myself? Do I have sufficient faith to expect God to hear and answer? Am I really praying of just saying prayers? What happens when I get quiet and start to pray but can’t find the words? I must believe that the Holy Spirit intercedes for me, even when I can only groan. God knows my heart and He will attend to my need.
God causes all things in my life to work together for my good because I love Him and He has called me according to His purpose. I shall be glad in His will and not be sad in mine. It is so good to know that in His foreknowledge I was predestined (appointed) to be justified, sanctified and glorified. Praise Him for His glorious grace!
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us? 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED." 37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
How can I possibly thank God enough? What shall I say? How can I express, or even comprehend, my position in Christ, who set me free and gave me such blessings? In this position, who can be against me? God delivered His own Son to die for me, and He adopted me as His son; this nullifies all the charges others may bring against me. God justified me; it is not possible that anyone could condemn me. To do so would be to nullify God’s grace and overturn His decree, and this is not possible. Christ is on my side, interceding for me, why should anyone presume to have power over His intercession? In all things I will be given strength to overwhelmingly conquer through Christ who loves me. Thank God, I have joy unspeakable and full of glory.
This is what this chapter says and this is what it means! I must remember this and never again question my position in Christ or my standing with God. If you are right with God you are a righteous person, and you may make this great chapter your own. It will give you assurance and comfort and empower you for the rest of your life.
Thus ends our study of Romans eight. Has it been helpful?
I have been posting these True Beleier Essays weekly for six months and have not received a single comment. If anyone is reading them and would like to continue doing so, please let me know and I will continue posting them. Otherwise, this will be the last essay posted. ____________________________
Joel sent me the following quotation after my last essay on unspeakable joy. “Spiritual joy is: The settled conviction that God sovereignly controls the events of life for the believers’ good and His glory. Spiritual joy is not an attitude dependent on chance or circumstance. It is the deep and abiding confidence that regardless of one’s circumstances in life, all is well between the believer and the Lord.--John MacArthur
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
