The Danger of Sincrety
Today, many are given to this air of reconciliation. Political apologists would have you believe it is centrism or really, being moderate or better, progressive, somewhere between the political extremes of liberalism and conservatism. The real essence of the problem, is that capitalism without morality tends to the anarchy of lust and greed. This is dangerous enough, having liberty requires exercising self-discipline and responsibility. They call it the Third Way. The Third Way is sincrety, simply stated, trying to unite two irreconcilable things. These irreconcilable things are not what they would have you believe, let me explain.
As a society we are encourage to forget God. In so doing we have driven morality out of our schools, our homes, our entertainment and even our government. In return, there is a lack of self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) and personal responsibility, lawlessness grows. Consequently, this requires more of an external control and temperance, usually in the form of government.
This governmental control attempts to dictate morality and communal behavioral standards that apply to institutions and individuals alike. As personal self-control wanes, the reigns of government control must become tighter. This is the tipping the other end of the scale, and the centralized, command-and-control tyrannies of socialism, communism and Marxism. This type of government become dangerous because morality is rooted in the heart of the individual by God and is exercised in relationship to and knowledge of God. When the individual forgets God, and his responsibility to God, and the government then has to dictate morality, it becomes the arbiter of morality, deciding what is right and what is wrong. This is extremely dangerous.
The genius of our founding fathers, was finding a middle ground between these two extemes of anarchy and tyranny. One where the morality of the individual was recognized as God given. And with that personal morality, came sovereignty. This sovereignty required liberty, such that came from God and the government could not take away! They established a ance of power in governmental structure and prohibited the government from infringement on individual rights. This form of government recognized that sovereignty is bestowed upon the individual and not the government!
In the history of the world, this had not been done. As most governments place sovereignty in a person or particular group of rulers, not so in the United States.
The Third Way is not some reconciliation between partisan political extremes, but it is a way to reconcile these two forms of sovereignty. One that requires the individual to cede his control to that of another, transferring sovereignty to the government. Eventually, the government will be the arbiter of freedom, providing the individual with choices. This is just another version of the lie… the one Satan told in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1-7. In essence, he took the freedom Eve had to eat of every tree of the garden, and gave her choices; she could remain as she was, or she could be like God.
Look around, we see it everywhere… corporations are bad, yet they pay our wages. Government is good, yet it dips its hand in your pocket to steal your sweat. Becoming a parasite on government largess is good, working hard to provide for your family is not.
Marriage is seen as a restrictive covenant, not as to only benefit the furtherance of a society through procreation. But its very essence must be bended and twisted to satisfy individual whims of indulgence, relegating the ability of marriage as the primary vehicle to sustain society to obscurity. Eventually, that very society shall end up on the refuse heap of history. (That can be the only logical conclusion!)
This sincrety can be non-sensical , as in the claim that carbon-dioxide is a pollutant, when it is necessary for plants to grow and thrive.
Oftentimes it is subtle, as when we are told pregnancy is not always a human carrying another individual human being. Instead we are asked to believe it is really a lump of tissue, or worse, a parasite! We know, without the benefit of science it is another INDIVIDUAL human being.
The problem with sincrety, is the same as Paul asked in 1 Corinthians 5:6 “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?”
Think about it, we let a little error cloud our thought processes, will the preponderance of right thinking win out, or will that little bit of error, pollute all of our thinking?
The battle for control of the church has begun… the weapon of choice is SINCRETY! It is even predicted by John in Revelation 3:15-16, Jesus is speaking and says of the church of Laodicea “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
Is this not a warning from the Savior Himself to be very wary about coupling irreconcilable things?
Why do we accept Yoga in the Christian church?
Yoga at best is against Christianity. It is a system of works based on merging with God. Though some of the language sounds the same, it is a system of works. The poses in Yoga are meant to teach the body how to die! Just peering at the five basic truths of Yoga is enough to make me run!
Why do we accept the peace sign in the Christian Church?
Take the time to find out why. It is not simply a symbol to bring about peace, but is being used to sincretize all of society. It has many different stories of its creation. However, some every citation couples some nefarious meaning to it. One cites its creation to a group with communist and Marxist sympathies. Regardless, it is a symbol of rebellion… and we attempt to reconcile it with our Christianity. That is precisely what it was used for in the 1960s, to rebel against the church and society Curiously, it is accepted and adored by many Christians today!
Why do we celebrate movies like Harry Potter and New Moon in the Christian Church?
They are really good moral stories, but that evil stuff is thrown in just for fun. Come on, incantations and vampires, are not true, yes, but some are carried away unawares. I mean seriously, we are to take character lessons from Edward (a vampire) and proclaim his testimony?
Is Jesus Christ not good enough?
And most dangerous of all, why do we accept the emergent church movement in the Christian Church?
With its focus on the here and now, social justice and sustainability… this is the near end-game of seduction. As Christians, we are encouraged to pray for God’s kingdom to come… it will be a Earthly kingdom, yes. However, it is not our home, or even our hope. Our hope is eternal, as it is written in Revelation 22:14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.”
There is a war being waged… it is spiritual. It is being waged for individual hearts! It is both overt and subtle, through using subterfuge and Hegelian dialectic it reaches deep into the church snaring elders and pastors. The powers-that-be may just be useful pawns, however they serve the father of lies. He is hard at work, knowing as we, that his time is fleeting. These leaders are moving us to the place we are warned to stay away from… medicority. Jesus Himself warned us of His reaction to mediocrity in Revelation 3:16… “I will spit you out of my mouth.”
I would even point to a hint of this prediction in Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, recorded in the Daniel 2:31-45. The image Nebuchadnezzar saw in his sleep was impressive… and it is easily explained by Daniel with revelation from God.
The image is sort of “timeline” of world empires, with the gold head representing the Babylonian empire. Each empire deteriorates, as is evident in its movement from the more prominent position of the head on the body and composition of better materials. As each succesive empire appears, it occupies a less prominent place in the body and the material is of slightly inferior value and density. We find ourselves somewhere close to the feet and toes of the statue… the toes being the final empire. Here is where it is stated in Daniel 2:41-43 as follows:
And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay.
Here you see sincrety described in the form of iron mixing with clay… but they do not hold together, because iron does not mix with clay.
Christian be wary of everything you are taught… even from your own church leaders. As is written in 1 John 4:1-6:
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
Christian… you can be taught another Jesus. The enemy is working out the last pieces of his dominion. This is his lie, dominion theology taught by the emergent church, to realize Utopia in the here and now. He is using the language of the Christian to lure away captives unaware. Words like justice, hope, kingdom, conversion and salvation arer being used to connect concepts that are biblical with a concepts that are extra-biblical and prideful.
The emergent church is calling for “conversions that can change lives, neighborhoods and this world,” that is meant for the community. It is a gospel of communitariansim (better communism,) and relativism. It is not the true Gospel of the shocking individual recognition of personal sin that leads to responsibility, repentance and service to a holy and loving God through salvation in Jesus Christ.
So let’s be clear: sincretism… in other words is oxy-moronic!
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Who Are the Two Gods in Daniel 7:13-14?
Daniel 7:13-14 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”
This is a particularly exciting passage of scripture. It records God, here described as the “Ancient of Days” on the throne, yet someone who looked like a human being was presented to Him. Yet, implied in the original language, this human being was not mortal. In fact, this Human was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and that all peoples and nations and languages should serve him. I would ask, is this Human then a God on par and equal to the Ancient of Days?
The Israelites of Jesus’ time new the scripture well… in fact they knew this very passage referred to the Messiah, they also knew that the Messiah would reign forever, as is clearly expressed by the last phrase in the passage. They also knew the Messiah was God.
In John 12:27-34 there is an interesting conversation between Jesus and a crowd of Jewish followers. The Jews ended with some questions posed to Jesus. “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”
Curiously, Jesus Himself declared He must be lifted up, and would die. Those Jews present knew what the scripture said of the Messiah, or son of man, in Daniel 7:13-14. It surely must have perplexed some… but let us look at another New Testament passage… this time in the book of Matthew. Jesus is on trial before the high priest.
Matthew 14:60-63 “And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need?”
Here, recorded for us, is exactly what the high priest and Jews believed before the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The son of man was indeed God, as Jesus Himself quoted and even ascribed Daniel 7:13 to Himself, calling Himself the Son of God. The reaction of the priest is self-explanatory.
And as the priest declared, I then ask you… “What further witnesses do we need?”
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An Argument for the Early Dating of the Gospels
Adapted from a podcast at pleaseconvinceme.com
For those who would claim that the Four Gospels are a reliable eyewitness testimony, there is substantial evidence to bolster the claim. The Four Gospels, and the New Testament, were indeed written soon after Jesus’ resurrection.
Since the first century, there have been movements to eradicate the deity of Jesus. It is an old art, based on unsupported claims and purported reason. In the early church, it was the Judaizers who would negate the finished work of Jesus, if possible, by applying the yoke of the law to all. There were even purported gospels by Gnostics extolling the various teachings of an imperfect god. It is in their vanity they refuse to align their minds with the mind of God, instead making god in the image of man.
Presently, the neo-atheists and neo-Gnostics are presenting the same worn claims, albeit to fresh ears. In humanity’s quest for something spiritual to fill a self-imposed void, they eagerly consume the delusion offered to them by the same ravenous wolves.
What is at stake?
Paul answers this question in 1 Corinthians 15:12-19. The resurrection is central to Christianity. If there is no resurrection than we hope in vain. One well used weapon in their arsenal is the reliability and veracity of the eyewitness testimony. The attack is relentless, as it has happened throughout church history. Most will tell you that the New Testament was penned in the late second century.
Is that true?
Let us examine the evidence.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 250
On 19 November 1931, Chester Beatty purchased a collection of papyri. The manuscripts were purportedly found in the city of Aphroditopolis. The eleven manuscripts in the collection consisted mostly of portions of the Old and New Testaments and are known as the Chester Beatty Papyri. The three New Testament manuscripts contained fragments of the Four Gospels and the book of Acts of the Apostles.
These fragments are dated by paleography to the first half of the third century. In other words, between A.D. 200 and A.D. 250. What is significant, is that the substantial amount of time for these works to be collected and transmitted would have had to occur before this time. Regardless, the gospels were written and accepted before A.D. 250.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 200
The Bodmer Papyri were discovered near Dishna, Egypt in 1952. They were found at Pabau, the ancient headquarters of the Pachomian order of monks. These 22 papyri contain segments of the Old Testament, New Testament and other Christian literature. Significantly, this collection contains the oldest written fragments from the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John.
The Gospel of John manuscript is almost a complete copy and is dated at A.D. 200 Because the Gospel of John is widely accepted as the last gospel to be written, this would put the other gospels into circulation well before this date.
Gospels dated Earlier than A.D. 175
The Diatessaron, created by Tatian the Syrian, was a harmonization of the Four Gospels. This important work was the standard text for the Syrian church. Tatian died in A.D. 180, and the Diatessaron is generally accepted as written between A.D. 160 and A.D. 175. At this date, the gospels were accepted and in circulation before it was written.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 150
Early church fathers had a habit of quoting these Four Gospels. One such church father, Justin Martyr, ministered in Rome, where he founded a school. Amongst his pupils was Tatian the Syrian. Justin was an early defender of Christianity, he wrote eight apologies. Only three have been found to still exist… they are First Apology, Second Apology and Dialogue with Trypho. Justin quoted John 3:5 in Chapter 61 of his First Apology, further in chapter 63, he quotes Matthew 11:27 and Luke 10:16.
This presumes the Four Gospels were known and used in church teachings when the First Apology was penned somewhere between A.D. 147 and A.D. 161, based onto who it was addressed. However, the mention of “Felix” as governor of Egypt is believed to be a reference to Lucius Munatius Felix which further fixes the date to around A.D. 151.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 130
Eusebius of Caesaria was one of the first writers to chronicle the history of the early church. He quotes Papias, whom he called the Bishop of Hierapolis (modern Pamukkale, Turkey, ) among others. Most notably in volume 5 of Historia Ecclesiastica, he quotes Papias’ Exposition of the Oracles of the Lord. In the quotation Papias , himself, quoted the Gospel of Matthew, as well mentioning the Gospel of Mark. Papias died in A.D. 130.
The Rylands Papyri contains a fragment of the Gospel of John. It has been dated to about A.D. 125. This fragment, discovered in Egypt, puts the Gospel of John in use, there. Allowing for the copying and transmission of the text, we can presume that the youngest gospel, John’s, was in use before this time.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 120
Polycarp, a disciple of John, was Bishop of Smyrna and was martyred around A.D. 155. He wrote a letter to the Philippian church (ca. A.D. 110 – A.D. 135)in which he quotes or alludes to the Gospel s and other New Testament writings. The date of the letter cannot be fixed with certainty, Polycarp lived around 86 years, fixing a date of around A.D. 120 would put him at around 55 years old when he wrote it.
The significance of this letter is Polycarp’s reliance on the writings of the Four Gospels and other New Testament books. It is apparent that these were recognized as the word of God and perceived that way by both writer and reader, when the use of the letter is taken into account.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 110
Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, wrote several letters in A.D. 110. In his letters he quotes and/or alludes to the writings of Matthew. This would mean that the Gospel of Matthew would already be in circulation for it to be used this way.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 100
The ancient writing Didache: Teaching of the 12 Apostles, in chapter 8 quotes the Lord’s Prayer from the Gospel of Matthew. The Didache had been widely disseminated by about A.D. 100.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 95
Clement, Bishop of Rome, in a letter to the Corinthian congregation, quoted Matthew. The letter is dated during the reign of Domitian circa A.D. 95.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 70
Herod’s Temple was destroyed in A.D. 70 under Titus. This was predicted by Jesus in the Matthew 24:1-2 and Luke 19:44. There is no recording of the temple’s destruction in the Gospels. If the Gospels were dated later than this date, this would be a significant omission, considering Jesus’ Himself predicted its destruction!
Even the writer of the book of Hebrews would have included this fact to bolster the claims set forth in that book. In fact, the entire New Testament is silent on this fact, in stark contrast to those who would have you believe that Christianity was invented over a period of time.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 64
Luke authored his gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, yet there is no mention of the temple’s destruction, the siege of Jerusalem or the intense persecution of Nero. These would be significant and important milestones for the early church.
Early skeptics thought the titles, terminologies and customs used by Luke were primitive and thought false, until Luke’s terms were bolstered by archaeology.
Luke is likely writing Acts very early, as there is no mention of the martyrdom of James in A.D. 61, Paul in A.D. 64 or even Peter in A.D. 65. In fact, at the end of Acts, Paul is still alive! With that fact, it would be a reasonable conclusion to date the book of Acts before A.D. 64.
Luke himself, in Acts 1:1, refers to his previous work, leading one to reason that the Gospel of Luke would have to be written, circulated and well known before this book was written. Bolstering this claim, Paul quotes both Deuteronomy and Luke’s Gospel in 1 Timothy 5:17-18.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 60
If Mark is the earliest gospel written, it would have to precede the Gospel of Luke. This is derived from Luke 1:1-4, where Luke tells of his purpose in writing the account. He occasionally quotes the Gospel of Mark, so it would be reasonable to conclude that the Gospel of Mark was recorded before A.D. 60. This would allow time for transmission and circulation.
Gospels dated earlier than A.D. 55
There are three letter widely attested to be written by Paul. These are the epistles to the Romans, 1 Corinthians and Galatians. These were written between A.D. 48 – A.D. 60, the Epistle to the Romans, in the opinion of most scholars was probably written in A.D. 55 – A.D. 57.
In Galatians 1:18-19 Paul tells us that three years after his conversion, he went to Jerusalem to meet Peter and James. Paul returned to Syria and in Galatians 2:1, Paul tells of returning to Jerusalem to meet the apostles 14 years later. In Galatians 2:7-9 Paul describes his meeting with the apostles. The theory that this is one of Paul’s earliest epistles, would date this before A.D. 55. This same theory purports the meeting in Galatians 2: 1-10 and Acts 11:30 is the same. This theory implicates Acts 15:20 as describing the non-existent letter to the Galatians. If so, this places Acts well before the Epistle to the Galatians, and pushes the dating of the Gospels even earlier!
It is reasonable to conclude that Paul saw the risen Christ within five years of the resurrection.
Paul opens his letter to the Romans by declaring Jesus as the resurrected Son of God in Romans 1:4! This is about 17 years after the resurrection. The message is clear in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7, Jesus is accepted as God incarnate, resurrected and glorified! Paul is reciting the gospel. These men are resolute and steadfast in doctrine. Attesting to the reasonable conclusion that these books were written, accepted and circulated among still living witnesses. Living witnesses who could refute the testimony.
In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Paul quotes almost word-for-word Luke 22:19-20. Luke was Paul’s traveling companion, and Luke borrowed from Mark… this would place the gospel of Mark’s account very early in church history.
Jose O’Callahan, a Spanish Jesuit paleographer made headlines in 1972. He announced he had a translated piece of the Gospel of Mark on a Dead Sea Scrolls fragment. The Dead Sea Scrolls are dated to between 50 B.C. and A.D. 50. Again, this places the Gospel of Mark well within 15-17 years of the resurrection of Jesus.
There is ample evidence that points to the Gospel of Mark being recorded very early in church history. Some even think that the Gospel of Mark is an early memoir of Peter. This theory also requires an early date for the Gospel of Mark. It is a reasonable conclusion when one examines the evidence put forth.
Conclusion
Jesus is no prophet evolving into mythology as the agnostic apologizers would have you believe. Instead, He is indeed the risen Christ, Messiah… Son of God. Because Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection, He has taken the sting from death, as Paul proclaims in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55.
But as Paul goes on to declare that the sting of death is sin through the power of the law in 1 Corinthians 15:56. We now declare from the rooftops , 1 Corinthians 15:57 “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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America’s Christian Heritage
Evidence gleaned from the Constitution and its authors.
Most people will take as fact almost anything they are told, if it fits their worldview. They may even denigrate things without taking the time to study them. It is pointedly visible when someone attacks the Christian Heritage of the United States… most who do show that ignorance (the word is chosen because of what it means, simply not knowing, it does not extend to the motivation of the person) have not taken the time to critically examine the evidence. They will often cite platitudes like “the separation of church and state” or no “religious test for candidates.”
First let us re-examine these two assertions.
“The separation of church and state” as a phrase, does not appear anywhere in the U.S. Constitution, it is a taken from an exchange of letters between Thomas Jefferson and the Danbury Baptists. The Baptists concern was the First Amendment, and whether the rights granted were inalienable, that is given by God to the individual, and thus strictly between God and the individual.
In fact, Jefferson himself had raised much of the same issue, in his second inaugural address given in 1805, Jefferson reiterated his stance thus, “In matters of religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the powers of the general government.” To further understand Thomas Jefferson’s stance on this issue, let us look to a letter written by him to Samuel Millar in 1808 in which Jefferson wrote “I consider the government of the United States as interdicted by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions . . . or exercises.
For those who have never read what inalienable right is enumerated in the first amendment of the U.S. Constitution, let us examine the entire text of amendment one.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
It is plainly evident that the rights addressed are between the individual and their creator, and the government is barred from any interference whatsoever. In addition the rights that are further enumerated, free speech, free press and free assembly are specifically related to the first enumerated right, that of freedom of religion!
In our secular society, this very issue is twisted to protect the government from any religion. But in reality, this protection was to keep religion from the corrupting influence of government and power. This is patently evident when one reads the Declaration of Independence and the writings of our founding fathers. We must understanding the mindset of those escaping a monarchy coupled to the Church of England, where the sovereign was the king. There were other prevailing circumstances at the founding, including colonies having established denominations by law.
I would also posit this so-called separation is arguably Judeo-Christian in origin. In the Exodus, God established that those who would perform the duties of the tabernacle and temple are descended from Levi (Numbers 3:21-37.) Yet the kings who would rule over Israel are descended from David (1 Samuel 16:1-23.) David descended from the tribe of Judah. Is this not a separation of those who perform holy duties from those doing secular duties in the nation of Israel?
The prohibition of a religious test for candidates I would claim, is also grounded in a decidedly Christian ethic of freedom of conscience! That is, the sovereignty of the individual and his personal choices in his relationship to God. These religious requirements were already established in variously state constitutions creating an inequity. This religious requirement was seen as a denial of individual civil and religious freedoms.
God is quite clear on conscience, in Romans 14:5-12. Paul reiterates the individual’s responsibility to God in verse 12, “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” Our founding fathers understood this precept quite clearly. If the individual gives account before God, government is not the mediator of the things of God. Again, this is made quite clear in 1 Timothy 2:4-6, specifically, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
These two issues are tied together intricately, and have undeniable foundations in Judeo-Christian thought. In the last 100 years or so, there is a concerted effort to eviscerate this individual right. It is clearly a right retained by the individual, it is not a right granted to the government, nor would it restrict religion, or its free exercise.
Having dealt with these two objections to the Christian Heritage of the United States, I would like to offer one other startling find in the Constitution!. It is true, that some may still assert there is no specific proof of a Christian heritage in the original Constitution and Bill of Rights. I would have to disagree. There is a glaring inference to the Christian convictions of those who ratified it. It is found in Article I Section 7 in the second paragraph.
“Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two thirds of that House shall agree to pass the Bill, it shall be sent, together with the Objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law. But in all such Cases the Votes of both Houses shall be determined by Yeas and Nays, and the Names of the Persons voting for and against the Bill shall be entered on the Journal of each House respectively. If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law.”
Did you find it?
It is even set aside in parentheses for you! ” If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law,” (emphasis mine.)
There are many question this raises in any thinking person’s mind. However, it is undeniable that Sunday was set aside as a special day. If the heritage of this country is not specifically Christian, why is Sunday excepted, and not Friday, Saturday, or Wednesday?
Furthermore, there is another curious assent to none other than Jesus Christ! The document is dated, with the phrase “in the year of our Lord!” I ask, what Lord are WE honoring, other than Jesus Christ?
In conclusion, I have not made exhaustive research, but only scratched the surface. The foundations of this great nation are undeniably Christian. The heritage of our founding fathers, in their own character, words and deeds undeniably lay the foundations for this truth. 52 of the 55 of those signatories to the Declaration of Independence were deeply committed Christians, the other three believed the Bible to be Divine truth, and that the God of that Bible personally intervenes in the affairs of men.
These same men formed the first Continental Congress. Among the first actions of that congress were to create the American Bible Society and offer public funding to import 20,000 copies of the Bible! What has been taught in public schools is correct, however it is only a small portion of history, purposely presented to make a case for a secular nation.
Make no mistake… there is a war being fought for the hearts and minds (and consequently, souls) of humanity. The main weapon being used is delusion… one needs to exercise discernment to know the truth.
If you still are not convinced… I will leave you with the following. It is the text of a proposal Benjamin Franklin made to the Constitution Convention of 1787 on June 28.
“Mr. President. The small progress we have made after four or five weeks close attendance, continual reasonings with each other, and our different sentiments on almost every question — several of the last producing as many Noes as Ayes – is, methinks, a melancholy proof of the imperfection of the human understanding.
We, indeed, seem to feel our own want of political wisdom, since we have been running all about in search of it.
We have gone back to ancient history for models of government, and examined the different forms of those republics, which — having been originally formed with the seeds of their own dissolution — now no longer exist.
And we have viewed modern states all round Europe but find none of their constitutions suitable to our circumstances.
In this situation of this assembly — groping as it were, in the dark to find political truth, and scarce able to distinguish it when presented to us — how has it happened, Sir, that we have not hitherto once thought of humbly applying to the Father of Lights to illuminate our understanding.
In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for ‘Divine Protection.’
Our prayers, Sir, were heard and graciously answered. All of us who were engaged in the struggle must have observed frequent instances of a Superintending Providence in our favor.
To that kind Providence we owe this happy opportunity of consulting in peace on the means of establishing our future national felicity.
And have we now forgotten that powerful Friend? Or do we imagine we no longer need its Assistance?
I have lived, Sir, a long time. The longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth – that God governs in the affairs of men!
And if a sparrow cannot fail to the ground without His notice, is it probable than an empire cannot rise without his aid?
We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that: ‘Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this.
I also believe that without His concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel.
We shall be divided by our little, partial, local interests. Our projects will be confounded and we ourselves shall become a reproach and a byword down to future ages.
What is worse, Mankind may hereafter, from this unfortunate instance, despair of establishing government by human Wisdom and leave it to Chance, War and Conquest.
I therefore beg leave to move that: “Henceforth, prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven — and its blessing on our deliberations — be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business; and that one or more of the Clergy of this city be requested to officiate in that service.”
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Filed under Apologetics, government, history, News&Views, views
| Tags: Constitution, God, government, heritage, Jesus Christ, the lie |
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What Are Your Thoughts?
Think about it… we live in a physical world, that we know. We can see it and touch it. But there is a hint that there is some place that exists outside of this physical world. Perhaps, we can even KNOW that some other place exists!
Have you ever pondered your thoughts… What are they, simply neurons firing in a chemical soup?
Allow me to pose another question to you… Can you show me your thoughts?
You may say they are in your head, but what I want to see are the thoughts themselves! We know they exist and are REAL, however, they do not exist spatially. In other words, they do not exist physically in our dimensional universe. Our universe is usually considered to be three dimensions, but it has a fourth PHYSICAL dimension we do not readily consider, it is time.
According to the laws of our universe, if something does not have physical properties, it would also not be constrained by time! Can you GRASP that?
If your thoughts are not constrained by time, a case could be made that they then transcend our physical universe. That means that they can travel readily through all the dimensions of our universe! Since by definition, we are limited to only knowing about the things inside of our universe, the only way to know something exists outside of our universe is that it transcends this universe.
I like to think that this tells me that we are indeed eternal spiritual beings inside temporal bodies constrained by time in a fallen universe. That the Creator outside of the universe can indeed transcend our universe at will and let us KNOW He exists.
If that is the case, we better know Who He is!
He has provided us clues, everywhere. But specifically, the Bible says in Romans 1:18-20 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.”
If the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, then we must take heed. We must understand our obligations to God, since we are without excuse. If we truly are unrighteous, we then willingly ingore the truth. In other words, we are more apt to believe a lie. Further, the verse indicates that HIS eternal power is clearly perceived! Yet, could we be deluded to accept a lie easier than the truth?
Paul declares, we are without excuse! Let us read further in Romans 1:21-23 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.”
You see, it is not good enough to just KNOW God, but you must glorify Him and give Him thanks… otherwise, you suffer the consequences of folly and futility. In futility, our hearts are darkened, by our own choices! This indicates a kind of subtle self-delusion… could it be, that we being unrighteous have a natural proclivity to be deceived by our own mind and heart?
You and I, all of mankind are created in the image of God, yet the wisdom of man tells you different. That all of humanity was descended from apes, and further back creeping things. This is the tree of evolution. Is it then that we have exchanged the glory of God, and if so, for what?
If you are descended from monkeys and other animals, logically, there is nothing but survival of the fittest… in essence, might makes right! But you know there is something wrong with that, it is written into your very being. It makes you want to scream that “It’s not fair!” Is this survival of the fittest really wisdom or foolishness?
The final part of this section may answer it for you, Romans 1:24-25 “Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
Honestly, we live in a society where it is very diffcult to not see the consequences of sexual impurity. We may even hotly deny it, but the simple truth of the matter is borne on the evidence all around us! The message of sexual immorality bombards us daily… it screams at you from television, magazines and billboards. There must be something wrong when we need to have 100,000 condoms on hand for the recent Vancouver olympics, with around 7,000 athletes attending… well, you do the math. Even with all this, sexually transmitted diseases are rampant!
If we as a society have exchanged the truth for a lie and with this curse upon us what do we do?
In the book of John, Jesus Himself has a conversation with Nicodemus that provides the answer. Let’s read it… John 3:10-21 ““Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.””
Jesus Himself declares He has physically transcended this world, teaching us of heavenly things, or those things that exist outside our fallen universe. We do not even believe the truths that are physically evident, if we willingly reject them, how then can we know spiritual truths?
We are already condemned in this world, Jesus came to redeem it and us. He was lifted up on the tree. He is the one who took all of our punishment. In taking our death upon Himself, He gave us His life, freely. And we must look upon Him in faith, that He has finished the work in our stead.
This is where you take your darkened, deluded heart, to the Light of the world. This is truth, you already know this is right, it is imparted to you.
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Filed under BibleStudies, CloserToGod, salvation
| Tags: delusion, God, Jesus Christ, the lie, truth |
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The Person of Christ
This appeared in a tweet I received today. It is an interesting article that expounds on the deity and humanity of Jesus. There are numerous references to scripture throughout. It is a worthwhile read!
It is interesting to note… and reflect upon the fact that while the God of the universe, forever put on flesh… He will forever bear the marks of His purchase. Yet we are given temporal bodies and we mark them with sin, and when we repent of our sin and accept the finished work of Jesus, we are given an eternal PERFECT body!
Happy reading… by the way, the article is in a pdf file, so you can take it with you. And for those who already have the ESV Study Bible… it is in there, too!
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Filed under arielsadmirer, BibleStudies, Christology, CloserToGod, reference, salvation
| Tags: Christology, devotion, God, Jesus Christ, salvation |
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