The Kingdom of God

Doing Romans 13 in Sunday School.

Hearing all the usual arguments against subjection to human rulers.

I'm more sure than ever that the Christian's way in this world is an absolute and stark choice between two ways. We respond to whatever God's given us with rejoicing acceptance, as Jesus did: or with rebellion, as Satan did.

Submission to what God's chosen to give us: whether it's pleasing to us or not: is faith in His wisdom, goodness and (most of all) His absolute sovereignty. Rebellion manifests disbelief in God's wisdom, goodness and (most of all) His absolute sovereignty.

In God We Trust

We've all heard the lie that goes around "conservative" circles periodically: that "they" are going to remove "In God We Trust" from American currency. That lie, of course, is supposed to make us fearful and angry against "them," and make us follow the "Godly" liars...who (we're supposed to believe) will KEEP that motto on American currency.

And keeping that motto on American currency will...what ? What is it supposed to mean ? That America is a Godly nation, that trusts God MORE than its wealth ?

Perhaps America SHOULD take "In God We Trust" off our currency. How can it not be an affront to God that we shout such a hypocritical lie on our every penny and every dollar ?

The Current Church in America

I'm glad to live in a time and a country where, after 2000 years, we've finally got it right. Thanks to the political "Christianity" we've chosen to follow, the American Church at last practices the kind of fiscally-conservative, self-determined, individual-rights Christianity that Jesus taught.

Conspiracy-thinking

"For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,

'You are not to say, "It is a conspiracy!"
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.
It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.' " (Isaiah 8)

It's a very timely word to anyone who seeks to follow God in America these days. My e-mail is continually awash in warnings
of conspiracy: shamefully, most of it from Christians whose thinking has been corrupted by "conservative" politics.

What is "conspiracy" ? It's those people who are plotting (usually secretly) to harm us. Richard Nixon (a master plotter himself) put
the conspiracy-mindset well on one of his secret Watergate tapes: "Make no mistake about it: they are out to get us."

Conspiracy-thinking grows from a partisan worldview: that it all comes down to "us vs. them." Nixon could have been the poster-boy for that worldview. It's clearly widespread among current "conservatives" too, and the Christians who follow them. But like conspiracy-mindedness, partisanship (or "factionalism") is a sure sign we're not walking in the Spirit. (Galatians 5:20)

God put His finger on the matter. People who see the world filled with enemies plotting against them are fear-stricken. People driven by fear tend to be irrational and violent. Inducing fear has always been a powerful tool of unscrupulous politicians (Nixon again comes to mind, as do current "conservatives") for those reasons.

Most of the conspiracy e-mails I see add lying to their sinfulness. (If there's any doubt who's behind the partisanship, fear and irrationality of conspiracy-mindedness, just call to mind who Jesus said is the "father of lies.") You know the e-mails I mean: "they" are going to remove Christian crosses from military cemeteries, take our guns, make our courts recognize Sharia law, take "under God" out of the Pledge of Allegiance and "In God We Trust" off our money, and outlaw Christmas.

The media won't tell us about this grand conspiracy, of course: they're part of it. So (the anonymous e-mails say) is our secretly-Muslim President, the United Nations, the World Council of Churches, the World Monetary Fund, and the Boy Scouts. Make no mistake about it: they are ALL out to get us.

Those who choose to believe lies can always be easily manipulated by Satan. But God's warning doesn't make a distinction between imaginary and real conspiracy. He spoke to Isaiah about a real pact of foreign kings joining to destroy Israel. Similarly, the Communist leaders of the recent past were very candid about their purpose, publicly proclaiming, "we will bury you." But God told Isaiah even a real conspiracy was not to be feared: it was HIS determination that man's plot "will not stand." So he determined about Communism in our time.

Those who feared the real conspiracy of Isaiah's foreign kings, and those who feared Communism, were no different in God's eyes than those who today fear that our human government will make it a crime to say "Merry Christmas." They fear man more than they fear God. They fear conspiracy (a sin which God forbids): and manifest their disbelief that God rules, and that His power is greater than anything evil men and the enemy can do.

The conspiracy-minded show that their real faith is in Satan.

"Christian Media"

There's always seemed something a little bogus about the idea of "Christian media."

Christian media's offerings have never really been to my tastes; but it's more than just personal tastes. In practice, it's always seemed somewhat inauthentic: news, music and opinion deliberately skewed to fit a narrow predetermined purpose. Something like people who set their news feed to ONLY provide them gossip about professional wrestling or rap-music. It ends up being a fragmentary reflection of reality, and not-quite-true.

Seems like "true" and "reality" should be the watchwords for Christians, since Jesus is the Ultimate of both. In practice, for those whom I know to be typical consumers of Christian media, it seems primarily a way of identifying yourself as a member of "the club." In practice, I find good secular news-organizations (not Fox News, for example), reporting mundane daily news on the traditional journalistic criteria of setting forth facts, have more of Jesus about them, more truth and reality, that "Christian media."

Our theology is that Christ is in the world: "built-in" as the Logos through Whom all that exists came into being, born and living in human flesh among men as Jesus, and active today through the Holy Spirit. Even today I've heard two "secular" news-stories on NPR to which my spirit excitedly said, like Peter from his fishing-boat, "It is the Lord !!" Yesterday Jesus spoke unmistakably from a book I was reading, in the words of a Vietnam veteran describing his 40-year after-war struggles.

I don't know that any of the people in these instances were Christians. It doesn't matter: they witnessed of Jesus. I'm impressed that in His final hours, the Roman governor Pilate, Pilate's wife, the High Priest Caiaphas, the thief crucified beside Him, the Roman soldier standing guard as He died, even the sign posted above His head on the cross, witnessed in their different ways Who Jesus IS...and none were His followers. "Christian media" would not have interviewed or put any of them on the air.

Do we believe our theology ? Or is Jesus' Presence so hazy in the real world He created, where the Holy Spirit works, that we can't see him ? Is His voice so indistinct it's drowned out by reality, and we can't hear Him ?

Peter recognized Jesus when he saw Him. Recognized Him even though He couldn't possibly be there, alive. "Christian media"...indeed, the Church itself...doesn't act as if it believes He's here at all, except within the walls of our club-house.

"Christian" media, and the widespread "conservative" hatred of secular media, have the same deleterious effect on the Church. Both promote the idea that Christ can't be found "in the world." Deleterious because it's untrue, according to our Christology. Deleterious because it teaches Christians to only look for Him within church walls: and that atrophies the spiritual expectation, and ability, to see Him anyplace in the "real world" !

Wrong again, Church.

Wake up, Church.

Church, Repent your unbelief !!

Two Questions for the Church

If your religion doesn't equip you to tell right from wrong, what good is it ?

If you don't care about the difference, what's wrong with you ?

Christian Orientation 101

Orientation as a Christian is a simple process: one step, the same step each time, in every circumstance. Skipping that step insures that you will miss Jesus.

Jesus said He IS "the truth" (John 14:6). He said satan is "the father of lies" (John 8:44). All who believe what Jesus says will orient their lives, hearts, words, and acts accordingly.

Like Jesus, truth is real. Truth is verifiable, and owes nothing to opinion. Like Jesus, truth is one: "I'll follow my truth, and you follow your truth" is a lie (see above, "father of lies"). Like Jesus, truth is sovereign: every other criteria is subject to it.

There are no lying Christians, and no Christian lies. "No lie is of the truth." (I John 2:21)

The whole of a Christian's orientation in life consists in this: who loves Jesus must love truth. Who follows Jesus must follow truth.

Hocus Pocus

The magician's main trick is misdirection. If the audience' eyes are all on the pretty assistant as she secures each lock with a loud "click!!", it's a simple matter for the magician to slip a hidden key from his mouth to his hand without anyone noticing.

Misdirection: get the rubes to look the wrong direction, so they miss the obvious, and they'll BELIEVE the deception.

Abortion, gay marriage, and all the other MORAL "issues" by which "conservatives" claim Christians' allegiance...who exactly told Christians the place to fight those moral battles was the political arena ? Was it Jesus: or politicians on the make for Christians' votes ?

Misdirect Christians' focus to political "issues," and the deceiver can even slip a priest of anti-Christ past us as the "Christian" party's candidate.

And nobody will notice.

Drawing the Line

Ted Williams was the last man in baseball to bat over .400 (.406 in 1941). He credited his visual acuity. Williams claimed he could see the spin of the ball's stitches from the moment it left the pitcher's hand, letting him distinguish a fast ball from a curve and anticipate the ball's placement and motion.

An interviewer asked Williams about his legendary batting skills. It was simple, Williams said: he made it an absolute rule to never swing at a ball unless its path would touch the strike-zone.

"But with your eyesight," said the interviewer, "surely you could have connected with pitches that were only an eighth of an inch outside, or a quarter-inch. Couldn't you have gotten even more hits that way ?"

"No !" Williams said. "If I did that, where would I draw the line ?"



The Church' first charge is to draw the line. God's has entrusted no one else with His spiritual acuity to distinguish good from evil. But the Church follows its own batting philosophy.

Ronald Reagan took office preaching rebellion: "...government is the problem."

George W. Bush used the anniversary of 9/11 to teach blasphemy. In the same words with which scripture lauds Jesus, Bush told us the "ideal of America" is "the hope of all mankind," and "the light [that] shines in the darkness."

Eighty percent of American evangelicals in 2012 voted their personal choice was to be led by a priest of anti-Christ.

Where does the American Church draw the line ?

A parable

Two rival politicians were on the platform, ready to pitch their candidacy to a crowd of voters.

The first politician took the microphone and began to build his case. He represented the party of the great Abraham Lincoln, he told the crowd. Moreover, he espoused the principles of Lincoln. As his speech progressed, he compared himself to Lincoln in more particulars. By the time he made his final humble plea for listeners' votes, it was clear the candidate was the near-reincarnation of Lincoln.

The second candidate took the microphone. "It's true my opponent bears a striking resemblance to the great Abraham Lincoln," He began, and paused. When he had the full attention of the surprised crowd, he rasped, "If you can imagine a short, fat, dishonest Lincoln."

Some say America is a Christ-like nation. That may be true...if you can imagine a rebellious, violent, greedy Christ.