Is God really on America’s side?

In honor of Memorial Day and all who served we present this ENCORE POST

We are in a war where radical Muslims claim God is on their side.  In America we pray for God to bless our troops and believe God is on our side.  Does God choose sides and if so, whose side is He on?

We gain insight into the answer in Joshua 5:13-14.  Joshua is preparing to lead Israel in battle against Jericho.  Joshua sees “a man” standing with sword drawn and he asks him, “Are you for us or for our enemies?” This “man” turns out to be an angel, or most probably, a pre-incarnate appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

God had commanded the Israelites to go in and conquer the land to punish the inhabitants of it for their continued wicked ways.  He had promised the Israelites that He would give them victory.  If anybody could ever say, “God is on our side”, these would be the people who could make that claim.  Yet, the “man” gives a very curious answer, “Neither”. Continue reading

Christians are incestuous cannibals!

You are guilty!Romans despised Christians because everyone knew they were horridly wicked people who were cannibalistic, incestuous, atheists. It was primarily these accusations that caused even the immoral Romans to despise, persecute and slaughter the “vile” Christians who deserved to perish.

Christians were atheists because they denied the existence of the Roman gods, cannibalistic because at their secret meetings they would eat flesh and drink blood (references to the Communion / Eucharist). And in the perverted mind of the Romans, talk of loving your brothers and sisters could only mean one thing, incest. Christians were evil people who held secret meetings to do the vilest of things and deserved torture and death. Continue reading

How do you stop a charging elephant?

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Have I got a deal for you!Proverbs 22:7
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
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Someone was commenting on the deal they got on a new car because of “good financing”. Instead of minding my own business I let them know I think the term “good financing” is an oxymoron. How can anything that makes us a slave to another be “good”?

It is so easy to go into debt to demonstrate our love, or meet a “need” we feel we have, to comfort ourselves, pass time shopping, etc.  Before we do however, it is wise to invest some time meditating on the warning of Proverbs 22:7. Continue reading

Help for exhausted parents

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Remind me why I wanted children.Proverbs 28:23
Whoever rebukes a person will in the end gain favor rather than one who has a flattering tongue.
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What an important message for parents. When our children misbehave we are tempted to look away, ignore it, if in public to act like we don’t even know who these kids belong to. Sometimes it seems impossible to muster the strength to deal with it one more time. And sometimes our attitude (anger?) is such that we shouldn’t try to deal with it right now.

But this passage makes a promise for worn out parents who do rise to the occasion and rebuke, discipline, even chastise if necessary “one more time”. If we dig deep and find the energy (and self control) to make the effort, endure the grief and embarrassment it causes us, we “will in the end gain favor”.  Continue reading

Rebuke me, please.

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Love in action !Proverbs 27:5
Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
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This passage seems a little strange. No one likes to be rebuked but everyone wants to be loved. So how is rebuke better than love?

Hidden love is worthless. Love is a verb. It requires action. If I love you but never act lovingly toward you, my “love” amounts to nothing. So this passage is saying: If you love someone, do something, act like it, tell them.

What an important truth for parents and children, husbands and wives and even friends. The old, “They know I love them so I don’t have to tell them” is a deception. Tell them, express your love, lavish it on. Do not let your love remain hidden. Continue reading

My friend stabbed me!

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My friend stabbed me!Proverbs 27:6

Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
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What a strange passage. We don’t usually think of a friend wounding us or of enemies kissing us – except perhaps the kiss of Judas which this passage is obviously prophetically referring to. But sometimes it is only a friend who will wound us. Continue reading

New and Improved Jesus!

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Galatians 5:4, 10, 12
You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. The one who is throwing you into confusion will pay the penalty, whoever he may be. I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.
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Paul is really in attack mode here. You have been severed from Christ, fallen from grace! “I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves.” All this just because they are trying to get folks to keep the law? Don’t do this, don’t touch that, don’t go there, be sure you do this and do that.  What’s wrong with getting people to “clean up their act”? Continue reading

Even when it hurts

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Truthfulness mattersIn Joshua 9 the Gibeonites lied to Joshua to get him to promise to spare their lives.  Theirs was an intentional, premeditated deception.  They went to great lengths to cover the truth.  In any court Joshua would not have been required to fulfill his vow because of their deceitfulness yet, he kept his word anyway. What’s that all about?  Keeping your word even when you find new information, even when you find someone else was not being perfectly honest or walking in integrity. Continue reading

What will people think?

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Luke 7:31-34 – “What can I say about such men?” Jesus asked. “With what shall I compare them? 32 They are like a group of children who complain to their friends, ‘You don’t like it if we play “wedding” and you don’t like it if we play “funeral'”! 33 For John the Baptist used to go without food and never took a drop of liquor all his life, and you said, ‘He must be crazy!’ 34 But I eat my food and drink my wine, and you say, ‘What a glutton Jesus is! And he drinks! And has the lowest sort of friends!’
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Though it was not His main message this reminds us of the futility of trying to please people. No matter what you do some will complain you did too much and some will criticize you for doing too little. “You should have danced when you were mourning” or “You were mourning when you should have been dancing.” You can’t please all the people all the time. Continue reading

Can I be pro-choice but anti-abortion?

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Best of Best

Someone wrote they were upset because a Christian friend accused her of being pro-abortion because she said was pro-choice. “That angers me”, she complained, “because I hate abortions but I think a person should have a choice in this matter.  How come Christians think pro-choice is the same as pro-abortion?

My response: I can understand her frustration at being labeled as being in favor of something that she despises.  Most people would consider her stance rather neutral.  She is not in favor of abortion but neither does she think people should be restricted from having them if that is their choice. She is tolerant.  She is correct – at least politically.

But here could be why her friend accused her of being pro-abortion simply because she was pro-choice.  Think this through with me. Continue reading