Christian Faith in America

Written by Samuel Lawrence

The television show, “The X-Files” (1993-2002) had a catchphrase that said “The Truth IS Out There.”  Well, thanks to the Internet, the truth is not only out there, you can actually have it delivered to your desktop, laptop, and even your cell phone.

The current hot topic in Washington DC is the pending Government takeover of America’s healthcare, including public funding of abortions, hefty taxes on the middle class, forced coverage with fines for those not covered, and many other massive regulations, government intrusion into privacy, and the inevitable rationing of care that comes with every single socialized healthcare plan currently on the planet.

Our President promised his “sheeple” who got him elected “hope and change” but what they really got was “bait and switch.”  Here is a video by one of his faithful who are now realizing, too late, the ugly truth about the man from Chicago and his arm twisting henchmen.

Evidently, the “end justifies the means” to the current regime heading the Executive and Legislative branches of our Federal government.  It is astonishing to hear Nancy Pelosi defend and explain her twisted “moral” justification for abortion, which is nothing but pure Secular Humanism, nothing more, nothing less. Watch the video and decide for yourself.

To further demonstrate that this Liberal bunch of Socialists will do anything to push their agenda down the throats of America, listen to both the President and Speaker Nancy Pelosi lie through their teeth regarding public funding for abortions in the current Senate Healthcare bill that the President is STRONGLY urging the House to vote for.  Notice the smirk on both their faces as they talk down to the masses from their lofty “bully pulpits.”

(Many thanks to Cory Truax for the above video link.)

Obama’s message of “Hope and Change” has devolved into “Bait and Switch.”  The only hope America has for any meaningful change in the November 2010 election.  I hope and pray that the Lord will have mercy upon America, but this “power grabbing,” “freedom stealing” administration has more the appearance of divine judgement on a nation which has turned its back on the Lord, than just your average bunch of Liberals gone wild.

The Lord blesses nations and brings curses and loss of freedom to those who reject Him. The Bible says in Psalm 33:10-12 that

“The LORD foils the plans of the nations; He thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.”

Consider Deuteronomy 30:1-7 in which the Lord speaks to the Children of Israel (His Chosen people) through Moses:

“I have told you everything the Lord your God will do for you, and I’ve also told you the curses he will put on you if you reject him. He will scatter you in faraway countries, but when you realize that he is punishing you, return to him with all your heart and soul and start obeying the commands I have given to you today. Then he will stop punishing you and treat you with kindness. He may have scattered you to the farthest countries on earth, but he will bring you back to the land that had belonged to your ancestors and make you even more successful and powerful than they ever were. You and your descendants are stubborn, but the Lord will make you willing to obey him and love him with all your heart and soul, and you will enjoy a long life. Then the Lord your God will remove the curses from you and put them on those enemies who hate and attack you.”

If the Lord God of Heaven promises this judgement to his chosen people, His elect, what more can a heathen and reprobate nation, overwhelmingly consumed with debauchery, hedonism and humanism, expect? Until America returns to the moral Judeo-Christian teachings she was founded upon, and repent from the chronic sin consuming her, we cannot expect the blessings of God, nor the liberty and freedom we once had, that made us great.

(1) “John Adams, had this principle in mind when he wrote, ‘Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.‘   Likewise, William Penn noted, ‘If we will not be governed by God, then we must be governed by tyrants.’ Yet, the nation ceased being a moral people. It ceased recognizing God. It should come as no surprise, then, that the Constitution, which allowed for a tremendous amount of liberty and granted few powers to the government, is now essentially a relic.”

I believe what we are witnessing  is this: we are now reaping the harvest of decades of sin.  America… Bless God!

(1) Quoted from cgg.org

Category : Abortion, Conservatism, Devotional, Founding Fathers

Everlasting Grace

Written by James A. Frost

Yes, the same heart that did on
Calvary bleed,
Still stretches forth His hand
when we are on the edge of our
need.
Always between us, and whatever
circumstance or foe,
Inseparably linked, a child can
always to His Father go.
When we are God’s without
reserve,
Resolved in our hearts that
no other will we serve,
when in utter odedience we
will only what He wills,
We are content in every state
as our hearts He fills.
All trials and temptations are
victoriously met,
His strength becomes ours, if
Him we do not forget,
Every situation is only an
opportunity to confirm my trust.
In the infinity of His grace my
troubles are as a speck of dust.
View original writing

Category : James Frost

Hold On

Written by James A. Frost

When it seems thy soul is tossed
about upon the raging briny deep,
Hold on, and remember you are in
God’s Keep.
Thy time’s burst of dawn will come,
Hold on,
His strength is ours, when ours
is gone.
Thy parched desert shall know His
watering, when,
without reserve, we look up and
ask Him to come in.
Hold on, for His own glory is thy
valley, we walk triumph’s way.
It is in our darkest hour that
His love emits its brightest ray.
Through sorrow God is only
enlarging thee.
So hold on, and know the majestic
sweep of eternity.

View original writing

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Isaiah 26:3 says “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” It is not easy to hold on in times of despair and trial.  It is a challenge. It tests your faith.  But the words of my father-in-law come as a loving reminder that, when we face dark times, the Lord is our refuge and our hope.

So, hold on to Jesus Christ, when trials come.

Blessings,

Sam Lawrence

Category : James Frost

By Chuck Baldwin:

There is a classic story about how no one had been able to capture a herd of wild hogs that was rooting up crops from numerous farms. It got so bad that rewards had been posted for anyone clever enough to corral the critters. But even this resulted in only limited success.

One day a stranger (who was a wily old trapper) came into town and–entering the general store–ordered a truckload of fence posts and fencing, along with some feed. When asked what he was going to use it for, he said, “I’m going to get those wild hogs y’all are having trouble with.” Of course, everyone in the store laughed at the overconfident stranger. A few weeks later, however, the stranger rode into town with the back of his truck tightly packed with the smelly swine.

When asked how he was able to accomplish what no one else had been able to do, the old trapper replied, “Simple. I started putting the feed out in a small clearing and the hogs began freely eating the feed. It didn’t take long and they were there every day. Then I put up the fence posts, but with
no fencing. At first the hogs were a little skittish, but it wasn’t long and they ignored the posts. Then I began putting the fence up, but I left the gate off. Again, the hogs were skittish at first, but soon realized they could come and go freely, and before long, they were devouring the free food
with a vengeance. Then, one day when the hogs were aggressively consuming the vittles, I slammed the gate closed.”

Ladies and gentlemen, I submit that what the old trapper did to the wild hogs is exactly what our soon-to-be oppressors are doing to us! What is worse, most Americans seem about as oblivious to the whole thing as that bunch of pigs. For anyone who is paying attention, however, the signs of
growing enslavement are everywhere.

Inside my web site is a link page that is constantly updated with pertinent information relating to how America is quickly being turned into Huxley’s Brave New World. I invite readers to regularly visit this page. It is entitled “The Emerging Police State.”

See the web page at:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/patriotact.html

Here is a sampling of just this year’s relevant headlines to date:

“Police Push For Warrantless Searches Of Cell Phones” (CNET News)

“During The Olympics, The Feds Will Be Reading Your Tweets–And The Blotter”
(ABC News)

“Feds Push For Tracking Cell Phones” (CNET News)

“Troops Randomly Patrol Streets In Pittsburgh, Respond To ‘Domestic
Disputes’” (PrisonPlanet.com)

“Residents Fumed Over Weekend Alcohol, Firearm Ban” (WXII-12 TV News,
Winston-Salem, North Carolina)

“Ron Paul Warns Of Social Unrest And Martial Law” (Texas Congressman Ron
Paul)

“FBI Broke Law For Years In Phone Record Searches” (The Washington Post)

“Top Obama Czar: Infiltrate All ‘Conspiracy Theorists’” (World Net Daily)

“President Gives Foreign Cops Power Over Americans” (Retired lawman Jim
Kouri)

Those are just some of the headlines from 2010 so far. Check out the headlines from 2009 and backward to discover that the list of relevant news stories is extensive. And as you peruse those news stories, keep reminding yourself about what you are actually seeing: you are watching the old trapper put the fence around the hog feed.

Again, the web page address is:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/patriotact.html

Only a blind or deliberately naïve man cannot see that America–the once-proud “land of the free”–is being systematically turned into a twenty-first century police state. Good grief!  The Heritage Foundation’s Index of Economic Freedom notes that America is not even listed among the ”free” countries of the earth. We are ranked in the second tier, of “mostly free” countries. Beyond that, the Heritage index ranks the US as only the 8th freest nation on the planet.

And both the Republican and Democrat parties in Washington, D.C., are equally culpable for America’s slide into socialism and oppression. And so are many local and State leaders–including political, business, and law enforcement leaders. Suffice it to say that most big city governments have become almost totalitarian. Government buildings–even local ones–are sealed fortresses, not unlike the old palace-forts of antiquity. In big and not-so-big cities, cameras monitor virtually everything we do. Even here in my hometown of Pensacola, Florida, a nearby city (Gulf Breeze) has recently installed traffic cameras, which issue automated tickets for red light runners. (How unconstitutional can one get? Surely someone will aggressively challenge the legality of these cameras in court!) What is worse is that many residents and local authorities see nothing wrong with it. These people are behaving just like those wild hogs that nonchalantly ate their food while the fence was being built all around them.

In the name of “security” or “safety” or “protection,” Americans are surrendering their liberties. Ladies and gentlemen, face it: freedom is risky business! If our Founding Fathers had wanted security or safety, they would have stayed in Europe–or at least remained a compliant colony of the Crown. So, if one wants government enslavement in twenty-first century America, one should move back to Europe–or better yet, to Red China or North Korea!

Instead of demanding that government take care of us, we should be demanding that government get out of our wallets and off our backs, and let us live free, as our Creator intended we live! But how can we do that when we constantly clamor for more and more government handouts and benefits? By demanding welfare checks, food stamps, government-assisted housing and medicine, etc., Americans are putting the shackles around their own throats.  Even churches and religious institutions are gorging themselves at the government teat. America doesn’t need to worry about terrorist attacks from Baghdad or Tehran as much as we should worry about the terrorism from Big Brother–brought about with our own approbation–right here at home.

When will we say, “That’s enough”? When will we truly rise up against this out-of-control federal monstrosity? When will we demand that government once again be our servant and not our master? When will we begin to see through these Big Government politicians from both major parties that are selling our posterity into tyranny for their own selfish pursuits? When will we wake
up to what both Big Business and Big Religion are doing to us? Why do we have to shop at the “Super Center”? Why do we have to worship at the ”Mega-Church”? Why do we have to believe everything ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN–and yes, FOX News–tell us? Why do we have to keep reelecting these career politicians? And when we do replace them, why do we have to replace one dirty, rotten scoundrel with another dirty, rotten scoundrel?

When will we recognize that the Department of Homeland Security would be more properly named the Department of Homeland Enslavement? When are we going to wake up to the fact that the Patriot Act is nothing but a tool of the federal government to usurp constitutionally protected liberties? When are we going to realize that the federal “war on drugs” inflicts more damage
on the Bill of Rights than it does any major drug dealer? When will we get fed up with these random police checkpoints (manned by agents from virtually any and every police agency, including federal agents) going up everywhere? When will we tire of our local policemen and sheriff’s deputies more resembling military commandos than peace officers? When will we demand that
our State and local officials stop begging the federal government for ”stimulus” money? In other words, when are we going to decide that we want to live in FREEDOM?

Until we Americans get serious about answering the questions above, we are only fooling ourselves when we talk about the United States being a free country. We are not free, and we are getting less free by the day. We are as those wild hogs that were first fed by–and then enslaved by–a wily trapper. When will we see it?

This column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2010/cbarchive_20100226.html

*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

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Copyright © 2010 Chuck Baldwin

NOTE TO THE READER:

Chuck Baldwin’s commentaries are copyrighted and may be republished, reposted, or emailed providing the person or organization doing so does not charge for subscriptions or advertising and that the column is copied intact and that full credit is given and that Chuck’s web site address is included.

Category : Chuck Baldwin

By Dr. Tony Beam

I am blessed with many vivid memories of my childhood. I remember the first time I looked through a pair of binoculars. It was a cheap, pop-up pair that my dad bought me at what used to be called the Ice Capades, which was an older version of the traveling ice-skating programs we see today. I was fascinated that just by looking through the lens it appeared that I could reach out and touch the skaters. I literally spent hours gazing through those binoculars until my dad would make me put them away for a while.

Another memory is not so pleasant. I remember I hated being sent to my room for misbehaving. My parents called it “being grounded”.  It meant I couldn’t leave my room until they were convinced I had learned my lesson.

In the late 60’s we didn’t have T.V., computers, cell phones, video games, or any of the other “in room” entertainment devices of today. So, being grounded meant staying put with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

When I read Acts 1:6-11, I see the beginnings of the early church being tempted toward being grounded or gazing. Verse 6 says, “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, (the risen Christ) Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” That is a grounded question asked by disciples with a grounded mindset. It has been forty days since Jesus rose from the grave. He spent His time appearing to His followers, speaking to them about the glories of a kingdom that would reside in each one of them once the Holy Spirit came.

But here they are thinking in physical rather than spiritual terms. They were seeking what amounted to a political solution to their plight. They wanted Jesus to remove the iron boot of Roman rule and establish an earthly kingdom where He would rule on the throne of David and restore the glory of Solomon. They longed for the good old days when Israel had conquered its neighbors and the whole world came to Jerusalem to pay homage and to seek wisdom from Solomon.

Many in the church today have the same grounded mentality. They spend much time talking about and longing for the good old days when the church was the center of the community and ministers were considered to be wise community leaders. The church had a tremendous amount of influence from Hollywood to Hoboken. People lined up on Sunday to go to church as the whole town shut down in honor of the Lord’s Day. During the week, people lined up to see Charlton Heston bring Moses and Ben Hur to life on the silver screen. Movies with titles like, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Robe, and Quo Vadis won hearts in the theaters and Oscars at the Academy Awards. It was a time when the Gospel was, as Paul told Timothy, “in season.”

But now the Church is no longer the most powerful influence in the community. Ministers are often suspect and Hollywood has turned organized religion into the “the devil with the blue dress on.” What are we to do? If we sit in our pews and long for the good old days we will be a grounded church. We will lose what little influence we have left in the world. We must follow the advice of a t-shirt I saw last week. Its message was as simple as it was profound. It said, “The Church has left the building.”

If the 21st century church is going to transform the culture we have to leave the building. We must go where the people are, build a bridge of fellowship, and demonstrate the love of Christ even as we gently warn that to reject His love is to eventually feel His wrath.
Later in Acts 1, the disciples are caught gazing up into the sky where they saw Jesus ascend. Verse 10 says, “And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky?” The disciples had been given their instructions. They were to go to Jerusalem and wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit. It was not a time for gazing, being spellbound by the glorious sight of Jesus. It was time for action. It was time to go to the place where the power from Heaven would be poured out in abundant supply. Verse 8 carries the promise, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, ad in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.” As I heard one old country preacher say, “They needed to go to the spout where the glory comes out!”  Gazing into heaven can be a good thing if we make sure it doesn’t become the only thing.

There was nothing wrong with me being fascinated with the binoculars to the point of wanting to spend some of my time gazing. The problem arose when gazing was all I wanted to do. There is nothing wrong with a church that gazes longingly into heaven, falling before a holy God, asking as Moses asked to see just “a glimpse of His glory.” But it is easy to give in to the temptation to do nothing but gaze. We lose our touch with the people God has called us to reach if we become so enraptured by His glory we forget to reflect His glory to the world.

While believers should always be informed about the issues facing our society in the political arena and we should be good citizens by voting according to the standards of God’s Word, we must never trust in a political solution for our spiritual condition. While we should revere the past we should see it as a signpost and not a hitching post. The 21st Century Church must be found neither grounded nor gazing but rather greatly empowered by the Holy Spirit, fulfilling the call to be His witnesses “even to the remotest part of the earth.”

You can hear Dr. Beam live on Christian Talk 660 weekday mornings from 7:00-9:00 AM (EST) as he is the host of Christian Worldview Today. You can also listen to recorded broadcasts in the Christian Worldview Today Archive.

Dr. Tony Beam is Vice-President for Student Services and the Director of the Christian Worldview Center at North Greenville College in Tigerville, South Carolina, Dr. Tony Beam received his Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and his Doctor of Ministry from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

Category : Devotional, Dr. Tony Beam