Comments on: Faking God

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 02:48:22 +0000

Dwight, there is room for a vigorous debate in areas of our Christian walk. However, the scorn is not necessarily directed at the person, rather at the flawed foundation on which “liberals” base their worldview.

Speaking of scorn, the motivation for the Jewish leadership to seek Jesus’ death was the scorn that he heaped on their hypocrisy. Being shamed in public by a mere carpenter was no doubt humiliating and to add salt to their wounds, the lay people persisted in calling Jesus Rabbi.

Never once were they able to beat Jesus in a Scriptual debate!!! Time and time again, Jesus would refer to the written Holy Words and show their interpretation to be shallow or at best self-serving.

So what they couldn’t do to Jesus within the OT system, they tried extrajudiciously. Sort of sounds like today’s liberals. Everytime they can’t persuade 60 million idiots of their blinding brilliance, they run to a sympathetic judge to enforce their warped worldview.

So if one’s feelings are hurt, consider the source of the “pain”. For it is written: I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, The just shall live by faith. Romans 1:16 & 17.

The just shall live by faith, an unshakeable faith when built upon the Rock and not on the prevailing sands of moral relativity. But how does one ensure that they are on solid ground? Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15. In doing so, it behooves us all to Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6.

That said, during the course of debate, there is no cause for hurt feelings over disagreements. Just as a sword is sharpened by abrasion, a healthy debate should sharpen your sword and should be welcomed. Feelings on the other hand tend to dull the edge.

By: Dwight

Dwight — Thu, 18 Nov 2004 00:50:19 +0000

The sort of language being used in this piece reminds me why folks who are left of center find themselves homeless in the religious world. If they try to stay in the church their faith is constantly questioned since they don’t accept the set of right wing axioms which have come to define religious expression in this country. Rather you get stuck with the label “faker”.

My question is this: in all this talk about understanding evangelicals, why is there no talk or desire to use language which is not scornful to those of us Christians, many in the mainline Protestant tradition, who find themselves in the liberal end of the spectrum. The idea of mutual understanding is great. It’s something not happening though in the discourse after the election.

By: firebird

firebird — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 15:15:37 +0000

Secular humaisn is a threat to us all its a new age cult of dangerous fanatics wanting to put a end to the traditional american family and the traditional way of life its time to get the secular humanists out of our lives and away from our kids

By: ChristWeb

ChristWeb — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 05:00:23 +0000

Christian Carnival XLIV :
The Seeds of a Worthy Dream The post is about what I believe is the foundation to Christian involvement in the culture. I have a dream that Christians would bring on a new birth of creativity in our culture that…

By: CONSERVATIVE IN PA

CONSERVATIVE IN PA — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 23:48:20 +0000

There are so many excellent comments in this Blog. La Shawn you truly are a blessing to all those who happen upon your page. After reading all the comments to this particular issue, it seems Liberals try to make perfection in their own image, and conservatives look to God and realize their own imperfections in doing so. Liberals would do well to review the road they have traveled before pointing their fingers at others.

By: SCSIwuzzy

SCSIwuzzy — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 22:57:08 +0000

I used to eat mudpies, when I was 3… I know better now. Does that disqualify me from knowing , and lecturing on, how to cook a nutritious meal? No, of course not.
Sometimes it takes a former sinner to see sins for what they really are. It is one of the reasons that my favorite Catholic saint is Augustine.
Now, why is it some folks demand perfection from people before they allow them to point out or try to correct imperfection? LOL

By: La Shawn

La Shawn — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 22:30:40 +0000

Oh, but if I had those years to live over again, Richard! Do as I do, not as I have done. My descent into alcoholism and licentiousness serves as an example of what happens when we live by no higher authority than ourselves.

There was a time I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror, I was so ashamed. But now my shameful past is behind me, and the blood of Christ has washed away my iniquities! (Can you say the same?) For these and other reasons, the link to my testimony article is there for all to see and for people like yourself to comment on.

What you meant for sarcasm, God meant for good. I suspect you don’t really wish me God’s blessing, but in spite of what you or anyone else has to say, God has already blessed me beyond measure. My cup runs over!

May He be as gracious to you.

By: richard

richard — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 22:20:41 +0000

Great to see you, a person who never waited till marriage to have sex and who spent the better part of their early adulthood as an alcoholic being moral judge.
Let he is without sin cast the first stone…not the words of a liberal, but of the one you profess to follow. Good luck and may he bless you.

By: SCSIwuzzy

SCSIwuzzy — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 14:59:11 +0000

DLE,
I think politics and faith always overlap. When you reach places in politics where the rules are unclear, what does one use to make a decision?
Right to privacy? There is no such right in society, either. The closest thing in reality is 4th ammendment, forbidding the govt from unreasonable search and siezure (and things like billeting troups in your house without cause).
If God in omnipotent and omnipresent, how does accepting Jesus take away your right to privacy? If anything, you’re just being honest with yourself in recognizing that in realtion to God, you never had one!
As for many, many other examples… I doubt it. Anyone who can completely sepperate their faith from their politics has sold out one or both, IMO.
I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: Politics and faith will always come into conflict, but it is up to us to decide which comes first, and which guides the other.

By: BobG

BobG — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 11:09:16 +0000

I never said Christianity was a political system but where the two do intersect for a Christian the choice is evident. Jesus pretty much covered it all with, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
And by the way, you always get a choice, it’s called free will.

By: DLE

DLE — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 05:56:06 +0000

BobG wrote: One cannot separate their beliefs from politics.

Christianity is not a political system, therefore there must exist points where Christianity and politics do not (or cannot) overlap.

For instance, the politically defined right of privacy simply does not exist in the Bible. Nowhere in true Christian community can there be an established right of privacy. You become a Christian, you give up your right to yourself. You are God’s. God may choose to deposit needy people at your doorstep at crazy times of the day. You don’t get a choice to say no to them because you gave up your right of privacy when you said yes to Christ.

That’s just one way in which politics and Christian belief do not intersect; dozens more exist.

By: BobG

BobG — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 01:57:50 +0000

One cannot separate their beliefs from politics. That is what Kerry tried to do and it doesn’t work. If I believe killing the unborn is wrong, I cannot say it’s wrong for me but ok for you. Postmodernism is one of the things tearing this country apart. There are those of us who believe that there are certain absolute truths and there are those of us who believe truth is always situational. That is a major dividing point.
Catholics like Kerry don’t believe in their church telling them what to do but despite what he says they have no problem telling the church what to do.
If I had more time I could discuss humility and obedience as virtues but I’ll save that for my own blog.
I am traveling the next few days and would appreciate your prayers for safety and wisdom in the business I conduct.
God bless.

By: DarkStar

DarkStar — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 01:16:46 +0000

All I am saying is that we need to be careful when we assess someone’s Christianity based on their political stances, even if those stances have moral implications.

I was taken for the woodshed for commenting here that I doubted someone’s profession of being a Christian.

In that context, I find the current comments here interesting.

By: Joel (No Pundit Intended)

Joel (No Pundit Intended) — Tue, 16 Nov 2004 00:48:57 +0000

Catholicism is not a democracy. Either you are a Catholic, or you are not. When you put your pro-abortion ideology before your religion, you are no longer a Catholic. This is the outcome of an analysis of a Vatican consultant based upon a suit before the ecclesiastical court against John Kerry.

By: political news

political news — Mon, 15 Nov 2004 23:00:23 +0000

I’ve lost patience with these kind of comments, and I will delete them. – Admin