Friday, May 14, 2010

Think It Possible You May Be Mistaken

The title is in reference to the warning Oliver Cromwell wrote to his Christian opponents.

"...bring not therefore upon yourselves the blood of innocent men, -- deceived with pretences of King and Covenant; from whose eyes you hide a better knowledge! I am persuaded that divers of you, who lead the People, have laboured to build yourselves in these things; wherein you have censured others, and established yourselves 'upon the Word of God.' Is it therefore infallibly agreeable to the Word of God, all that you say? I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken. Precept may be upon precept, line may be upon line, and yet the Word of the Lord may be to some a Word of Judgment; that they may fall backward, and be broken and be snared and be taken!...There may be, as well, a carnal confidence upon misunderstood and misapplied precepts, which may be called spiritual drunkenness. There may be a Covenant made with Death and Hell! I will not say yours was so. But judge if such things have a politic aim: To avoid the overflowing scourge; or, To accomplish worldly interests? And if therein we have confederated with wicked and carnal men, and have respect for them, or otherwise have drawn them in to associate with us, Whether this be a Covenant of God, and spiritual? Bethink yourselves; we hope we do."

-- To the General Assembly of the Kirk of Scotland, 3 August 1650


I'd remind my "Christian conservative" friends of these words, and ask them to apply Cromwell's warning to their faction's ideas and operations. Most of all, I'd beseech anyone in that faction, in Christ's mercy, to think it possible you may be mistaken, and confederated with wicked men to accomplish worldly interests.

Church, REPENT !!


Tuesday, May 11, 2010

God is Liberal


If the title of this post makes you gasp...or makes you angry...you are operating on the wrong definition of "liberal." You're exactly the person I want to address.

"Liberal" means "generous"...look it up in any dictionary. God doesn't play games with words. He uses a word (in scripture, for example) to mean exactly what it means. He speaks to us straight that way because He WANTS us to understand His thoughts and His heart.

God doesn't twist words. But human politicians do. That's what happened to the meaning of "liberal." A political faction in England a couple centuries ago began to call themselves "Liberal." "Liberal" means "generous," and factions always find it advantageous to give themselves a good name...even if it's not really true.

But human politics being what they are, clever spin-doctors can turn the game on its head. One way to do so is to give your opponents' "good" name an evil meaning. That's what an American political faction did just that a few years ago. They hated the falsely-so called "liberals," so they perverted that word's good meaning to give it their false derogatory meaning.

I have to wonder if Isaiah 5:20 applies here: "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil..." ?

If you gasp to hear it said that "God is liberal," it's because you operate by that political faction's definition of the word. You've been manipulated to think exactly the way political deceivers want you to think, to serve their purposes. Your understanding has been so deeply corrupted that you think of God HIMSELF in a political faction's definitions !!

My message is simply "REPENT !!" Turn away from that deceptive faction and its perverted teachings, and begin to think honestly. The dictionary's honest definition is that "liberal" means "generous." That's the meaning God intends we understand when He uses the word in scripture. For a true understanding of God, begin to think in scripture's terms.

In real words and true meanings, God is absolutely, unrestrainedly, LIBERAL, now and forever. In scripture's command, we all must praise Him for being liberal. In scripture's promise, our hope is to be liberal like Him !