Each person must seek the Holy Spirit for how to interact with those who are lost. God has principles in His word that clearly show us what to do. The unsaved are not to be our closest friends, but we are not to completely ignore them or we would not be bringing the gospel to them.
Who of us could say that we never needed to hear the gospel because we were so much better than those who do certain sins. All sin sends the unbeliever to hell.
There are those who have opted not to serve those of same sex marriage proponents in their businesses, and I would applaud them for their sense of disgust at unrighteousness. I wonder though if they would show the same disgust toward those who are remarrying after a divorce. Both situations are sin and both are condemned by God.
One seems worse than the other because it is unnatural, nonethless both are sins that can send someone to hell.
We used to have an ice cream business, we worked fairs, festivals and high schools, selling our product. When someone came to shop at our booth, we didn't ask what sin they were involved in, we simply sold to them. Everyone must make their own decision on this matter, but doing business with the world is not a sin.
Many of the people who bought our product were living in all kinds of sin, just by the way they conducted themselves and who they were associating with. Why would we take a stand against one sin over another in our business. I agree that same sex marriage is debauchery, but as long as they are not getting married in my house or church, I leave them alone. I do not attend remarriages from divorce, nor would I attend a marriage of a couple of the same sex, but we would sell our ice cream to them, while sharing the gospel them.
God gave clear commands to withdraw from a person who says they are a believers, who have become a part of our Christian gathering, who is in open sin. This is to discipline them to repent and become restored, or if they are proven to be pretenders, then they will choose never to return and remain in the sin as unsaved people, preventing them from infecting the body of Christ.
If we are to avoid them entirely then they would never hear the gospel. Looking down our noses at the unsaved does not show Christlike love. Showing them their sin because of the Christlike love in us, that desires for them to be born again, is the mandate given to us by God. Christ died for those people too, just as He died for us. We had to repent and become born again once, just as we should desire that they do.
1 Corinthians 5
" 5 It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.
2 You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst.
3 For I, on my part, though absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged him who has so committed this, as though I were present.
4 In the name of our Lord Jesus, when you are assembled, and I with you in spirit,with the power of our Lord Jesus,
5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough?
7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.
8 Therefore let us celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 1
10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.
11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?
13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves. "
Each one must seek God for who they do business with, but remember, we are no better than the people we serve, it is only Christ in us, that we share with them Who is righteous.
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Politicians: Truth or Consequences
I have opinions about who we should vote for, but that is neither here nor there, when man persists in using manipulation and power plays to get elected, rather than just telling the truth and leaving the results to God, there is no hope.
It takes faith to obey God much more than attempting to figure out which method will work best to manipulate and deceive the voting populous. Faith in our own devices will always bring trouble and be ineffective in making headway long term.
When we place our faith in Christ, do as He commanded, telling the truth everywhere we go, then we will see the true pulse of the nation. If we cannot win votes by truth, then that tells us the level of depravity and wickedness of our nation.
Christians in elections, have been compromising God's principles to win for many years. The level of honesty is at an all-time low in most people, and even more so in politicians.
Some Christian politicians have managed to maintain their integrity, but many who say they are "Christians" are merely using the title to gain the block of Christian voters that can push them over the edge into victory.
Our president Bush was one of those who claimed to be a Christian, but stated that there are many ways to God. He never came against Islam, except what he called "the extremists", whom he claimed did not represent all Muslims. Any Muslim who follows their holy book, the Koran, WILL love to kill anyone who is not Muslim, especially Jews and Christians.
Our focus now must be total honesty and integrity when voting, no matter where it takes us. I want to ask all those who spent years manipulating verbiage, hiding our true aim, "how has this been working out for you?" We are further along in our level of corruption in the government, our laws allowing for immorality and murder have been enhanced and added to, in the past few years.
Why can't conservative Christians get elected nationwide? The answer......we are a sinful and rebellious people who spur any sort of correction or instruction in righteousness.
Why do we have to manipulate public perception to get believers elected? The answer.....because we know the voters will not tolerate blatant displays of morality or rejection of immorality.
The general populous does not care about the immorality and most endorse it in one way or another, simply by accepting it while saying nothing against it.
I hear believers claim to want "conservative, moral" leaders but have completely accepted divorce and remarriage in their church gatherings, even pastors have gone this route, while some are on their third and fourth marriages themselves. Within the church now we have people living together in sin, women dressing in bikinis at the beach, most Christian youth are attending rock concerts and immoral movies.
AND WE WHINE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT POLITICIANS!!!!!
The church has no business crying and whining about the state of the nation when their own house is a mess, most people in them are not hearing the true gospel of repentance. They think because they preach against killing babies, their sin is not as bad as that, so they are alright with God. NOT!!!
The sin in the church is rampant, those who claim to be believers, while living in sin, fight and argue against us when we chastise them, while continuing to complain about our "corrupt" government. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
We have no right to expect our government to do better than we are doing. Next time you are tempted to complain, take a look at your own state. Are you in the Word of God for the purpose of finding His will for you, or are you reading the things you like and extracting from the context things you want to believe? Twisting God's Word to fit your desired lifestyle, is the favorite tactic of phony believers.
The politics of our time is doing nothing less than following the will of the people. Our only hope as a nation would be nationwide public repentance, while individuals in every home confess their sin and becomes born again.
Without this all our efforts to make our country "moral" and "Godlike", is going to continue to fail.
Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"
Isaiah 60:12 "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste."
2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
Look what God said to Judah, when they acted like we are acting!
Daniel 9:3-21 "Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you."
Notice that our sin was not only against the people of the nation but against God Himself.
What is our mandate from God? It is answered here in Matthew!
Matthew 28:18-19 "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
It takes faith to obey God much more than attempting to figure out which method will work best to manipulate and deceive the voting populous. Faith in our own devices will always bring trouble and be ineffective in making headway long term.
When we place our faith in Christ, do as He commanded, telling the truth everywhere we go, then we will see the true pulse of the nation. If we cannot win votes by truth, then that tells us the level of depravity and wickedness of our nation.
Christians in elections, have been compromising God's principles to win for many years. The level of honesty is at an all-time low in most people, and even more so in politicians.
Some Christian politicians have managed to maintain their integrity, but many who say they are "Christians" are merely using the title to gain the block of Christian voters that can push them over the edge into victory.
Our president Bush was one of those who claimed to be a Christian, but stated that there are many ways to God. He never came against Islam, except what he called "the extremists", whom he claimed did not represent all Muslims. Any Muslim who follows their holy book, the Koran, WILL love to kill anyone who is not Muslim, especially Jews and Christians.
Our focus now must be total honesty and integrity when voting, no matter where it takes us. I want to ask all those who spent years manipulating verbiage, hiding our true aim, "how has this been working out for you?" We are further along in our level of corruption in the government, our laws allowing for immorality and murder have been enhanced and added to, in the past few years.
Why can't conservative Christians get elected nationwide? The answer......we are a sinful and rebellious people who spur any sort of correction or instruction in righteousness.
Why do we have to manipulate public perception to get believers elected? The answer.....because we know the voters will not tolerate blatant displays of morality or rejection of immorality.
The general populous does not care about the immorality and most endorse it in one way or another, simply by accepting it while saying nothing against it.
I hear believers claim to want "conservative, moral" leaders but have completely accepted divorce and remarriage in their church gatherings, even pastors have gone this route, while some are on their third and fourth marriages themselves. Within the church now we have people living together in sin, women dressing in bikinis at the beach, most Christian youth are attending rock concerts and immoral movies.
AND WE WHINE AND COMPLAIN ABOUT POLITICIANS!!!!!
The church has no business crying and whining about the state of the nation when their own house is a mess, most people in them are not hearing the true gospel of repentance. They think because they preach against killing babies, their sin is not as bad as that, so they are alright with God. NOT!!!
The sin in the church is rampant, those who claim to be believers, while living in sin, fight and argue against us when we chastise them, while continuing to complain about our "corrupt" government. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
We have no right to expect our government to do better than we are doing. Next time you are tempted to complain, take a look at your own state. Are you in the Word of God for the purpose of finding His will for you, or are you reading the things you like and extracting from the context things you want to believe? Twisting God's Word to fit your desired lifestyle, is the favorite tactic of phony believers.
The politics of our time is doing nothing less than following the will of the people. Our only hope as a nation would be nationwide public repentance, while individuals in every home confess their sin and becomes born again.
Without this all our efforts to make our country "moral" and "Godlike", is going to continue to fail.
Psalm 33:12 "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage!"
Isaiah 60:12 "For the nation and kingdom that will not serve you shall perish; those nations shall be utterly laid waste."
2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
Proverbs 14:34 "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
Look what God said to Judah, when they acted like we are acting!
Daniel 9:3-21 "Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you."
Notice that our sin was not only against the people of the nation but against God Himself.
What is our mandate from God? It is answered here in Matthew!
Matthew 28:18-19 "And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,"
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