Kent Hovind may be released, I am glad to hear this possibility. However, let us remember that he was guilty of a crime, even if the sentence was excessive for this sort of offense.
Many believers are defending him, as though it was all injustice that he went to jail. We can be sure there was some religious prejudice involved in the final decision in his sentencing, but the courts were not ultimately in control.
Let's not forget that God was still in control of all that happens to believer even if administered by unsaved people. We are told to follow the laws of our land, that is clear in the Word of God.
Romans 13:1-7 "1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor."
God is likely to bring a greater discipline on those who belong to Him, when they are a public figure and have the ability to influence others to do as they do. I am sorry that he broke the law, I am not sorry about his sentence, that too was in God's hands.
I am however pleased that Hovind seemed repentant, said he would not repeat it again, that it was bad judgement and that he may be released soon.
I remember when the Bakers were doing their foolishness with the theme parks, believers were up in arms at the length of Jim Bakers sentence when he was arrested, declaring that it was excessive because he was a Christian, as though God was not in control of that either.
When an influential Christian defies the principles of God in a public way, then God deals very harshly with them for their negative influence in the church body.
James 3:1 "Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment."
Instead of whining about the sentence leveled against believers who have done wrong, we ought to be ashamed at the nasty taste it leaves in the mouths of unbelievers when those who call themselves by Christ's name smudge that name.
Remember too, if any of us go to jail unjustly, then we will know that it was God and that He had a purpose. Nothing escapes His notice or is out of His control. Even the Apostles went to jail unjustly, they sang praises in jail. We are free wherever we are if we are in Christ.
1 Peter 3:12-14 "12“FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE TOWARD THE RIGHTEOUS,
AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER,
BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL.”
13Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed. AND DO NOT FEAR THEIR INTIMIDATION, AND DO NOT BE TROUBLED,
15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;
16 and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ will be put to shame.
17 For it is better, if God should will it so, that you suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.
18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;
19 in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,
20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.
21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
22who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him."
"Religious" people are very stubborn because they feel safe being religious and in control of their own destiny, or so they think. Even people who claim to be "Christian", are often "religious", they love their ritual and traditions refusing to let go of what is familiar to them even if the Bible says it is offensive to God.
The definition of "religion" is a system of rules, dos and don'ts that have little to do with true Christianity.
Those who have been born again are in love with the Savior, they care deeply what God wants.
When we say we believe Christ but negate much of what is in His word, not bothering to ask Him to show us truth, then we should admit that we really don't believe Christ, we merely mouth the words without an inkling of trust in our souls.
Trust will be evidenced in a desire to know the mind of Christ, to know His principles His way.
I remember those women's Bible studies I have attended many years ago as a new believer, something about them made me sick at my stomach. As I began to grow Spiritually and deeply seek the Word, I realized what made me so ill about those gatherings.
The leaders were telling their students to go home and read a passage of the Bible and come back next week to share "what that passage meant to them." I argued with the leader, adamantly, that we should be asking God to tell us what He meant by the passage, not read to make it fit our particular desires and hopes.
Of course in every case the teacher negated me, ignored me and one even asked me not to return to the study. Why was I so disliked? The answer was clear, most of the ladies were not interested in seeking God for His wisdom and truth, they wanted to make the Bible say what they liked, searching feverishly for the ooy-gooy feelings oriented message they wanted to hear.
I noticed that when I would tell them what God said and what He meant, they were not happy with that, they loved to share their own thoughts, it made them feel elevated, special and profound, when in fact they were sounding silly to anyone who knew what God was saying.
When we read the Word, our goal ought to be to seek God in prayer for the meaning, forgetting what the culture is teaching to find God's truth. Our culture is very wrong about many things in the Bible, we have been raised on a cultural Christianity for the past 70 years now. Once a culture gets something in their head, becomes comfortable with it, it is mighty hard to convince them of anything else no matter what the clear evidence.
If we are to understand God's Word, it is vital and necessary to pray before we read, desiring in our heart for God to give us the understanding. When we neglect this important step of seeking God, all we have to help us is our own mind that is full of the wrong that we were taught.
If we want to know truth we must be willing to let go of anything and everything we were taught to find God's truth. Telling God that we want only pure truth from His heart, only then will He open the doors of his mind to us.
John 10:9 ""I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."
Christ is the only way to heaven and the door to everything else too.
Today my husband and I are celebrating our 44th wedding anniversary!
Happy Anniversary to my partner in life who has shared everything there is to share in this life, and in so short a time. How could we have packed "all that living" into just 44 years.
Would we have changed anything in those years....the popular answer for most would be "not one thing", that would be a lie for us. We have learned a lot and would have changed how we did things if we had been born again when we married. We would have lived very differently had we known the Lord in the beginning.
But we were not meant to change anything, we were meant to encounter all God had for us, for our learning. After becoming born again, everything we had to work through made us stronger, we could never have learned what we have if we had done everything perfectly. We would never have come to Christ if life had been easy for us.
We have had our easy times, they didn't do very much for us, it was the trials that taught the most. As we grew in the Lord the trials didn't disappear, we just had a different perspective about them. When we see illness, we see purpose, when we see a financial difficulty we see God's provision. Everything is interpreted now in terms of God's plan!
I am thankful for our marriage and all that it has brought, all the easy, good, happy and all the trials and challenges, we had to have it all, if we were going to grow.
Why should we take all the good and avoid the difficult? What makes us think that we can have life just as we please without hardships?
Job 2:10 "But he said to her, "You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips."
So the answer to the question, "has it been a good marriage" would be, yes, it has been a great marriage, not because things were always perfect and happy, but because we have experienced it all and come through it all, loving God more and ourselves less.
The challenge for first marriages is this....don't bail out, don't run when the going gets tough, stick it out, pray more, seek God more and never give up. In the later years it gets better, and you will be so thankful you will be counted with those who celebrate many years of marriage to the one and only person you committed to in the beginning.
I recently read a story about a speaker who was attempting to get a classroom of people to ponder the importance of particular subject. The speaker had a large white piece of paper on a board, in the middle of the white paper the speaker placed a tiny black dot. He asked various people in the audience, to tell him what they saw. Every person he asked said the same thing, they saw the black dot. The teacher admonished the crowd to consider that they had focused on one insignificant black dot and neglected to see all that white paper.
This story reminds me of the way many believers look at the bible, relationships and even situations in life. So often we judge a person by one tiny black dot while missing all the other aspects of that person's life. We dislike one thing about someone, and make that our assessment of them as a human being. Since they are not perfect, as we see perfect, we dismiss any other things that might be beneficial and even wonderful.
Sadly this shows a mentality of desire to dislike someone, more than a desire to understand them as a whole person. No one is only one little black dot, everyone has a bigger picture, but when we harbor jealousy, bitterness and determination to destroy in our hearts, we are not able to see the "white paper", we will only see the black dot, ironically enough we don't think we have a black dot or we would understand that no one is without a dot.
Some people are a black piece of paper with a white dot in the center, everyone knows people like that, all unbelievers are in this state because they have not been born again. However, even non-believers can be very nice people who do good works. My focus here is believers who are determined to judge the character of other believers based on one black dot.
When the focus is the one black dot, then we can see nothing else, leaving no room for loving acceptance in spite of frailties. Love overlooks personality flaws and idiosyncrasies. The only way we can love this way is if we understand that we have our own warts and flaws that others must endure.
Self righteousness is deadly among those who claim to be believers. It causes division and deep hurt, rather than fostering a search for truth together, the mentality is one of isolation from those who are perceived to be imperfect.
Sharing the truth with a believer should be an experience of seeking together to come to commonality in the Word. Often sharing is not loving, but mean and cruel and it is meant to squash and maime. The purpose of many people is to "win" rather than to share. Winning has no place in the heart of a believer, our goal ought to be to help one another come closer to truth ultimately glorifying God.
Oh my goodness, I know Christians who are into "essential oils", natural medicine, natural foods and other things that come from paganistic practices.
This is only confirming what God has been telling me for some time. Believers are getting all caught up in this "earth worship", without realizing what they are doing.
Controlling types, love to judge others over things that do not matter or have no Biblical basis. They demand that we buckle under to their mandates, but will not bend at all to understand the thinking of anyone else. These people are what make up cults that focus on deeds and personal achievement while neglecting the weightier matters of inner spiritual character.
Kind, loving and giving believers are targets for these people. Since we have within us the desire to honor God in all our ways, we take the scripture very seriously that tells us to love our enemies.
What we neglect often, are the scriptures that instruct us to be bold, speak truth and stand firm when attempts are made to manipulate us into capitulating to the thinking of the self righteous ones, who love to elevate their status above anyone who will not bow to their whims.
When we evaluate all that is said to us, all that is done to us and all that pressures us, in light of the Word of God, we are free to reject teachings and people who would drag us into their false form of religion.
The only ONE who should be controlling us is Christ, all others may interject from God's Word, but they may not control us. If we are doing or saying things to please people who are attempting to intimidate us or control us then we need to re-evaluate our words and actions to come in line with God rather than man.
When we encounter a controller, we must never allow them to continue, we must stand up to them with the Word and reject the notion that they have the right to walk all over us.
We may have to be walked on at times by non-believers for the sake of the gospel, but we are called to correct a believer who has the propensity to use intimidation to control others.
A truly loving believer will not bludgeon another brother or sister, they will share, correct even rebuke, but they will not manipulate or intimidate with covert threats to repress forcibly the heart of another human being.
Anyone can intimidate someone else into doing what they want them to, but that does not change their heart. When we rebuke and even withdraw from a person who will not stop sinning, we are merely doing what God commanded us to do, it is not of our own flesh, but under God's direction. He will see to the effects in someone's life. We are not to deliberately treat someone in a mean way simply because they disagree with us about a non-salvation issue.
Colossians 2:16 "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:"
There are many believers fighting over things that don't matter, they will use hateful language to hurt the hearer. There is no need for mean language or elevated voices when we are sharing, the only purpose for these things is to beat a person down to make them feel small, dishonored and disrespected. It is deliberate on the part of mean spirited hearts that feel a need to be elevated by bringing down others.
We must be direct and factual, the goal is to inform, not to destroy another human being.
