Fellow Christians: America was Not Founded By Christians

Despite popular opinion, the United States was not founded upon Christian principles, rather it was founded on the principles of Deism and the rejection of theocracies (government controlled by religious leaders). Most of the "Founding Fathers" were Deists meaning they believed in the existence of God, but did not believe in a structure of organized religion, the power of prayer; the life, death, burial, and ressurection of Jesus Christ; that the Bible was divinely inspired; or miracles. Deism is talked about thoroughly in the book 'The Age of Reason' by Thomas Paine who is also called the Father of the American Revolution.
Thomas Jefferson, who was the primary writer of the Declaration of Independence, was a deist.  When He wrote the D.O.I., Jefferson was sure not to include any references to any religious dogma; He wrote about the "wall of separation between the church and state"; Jefferson did not believe in the Divine Nature of Jesus Christ, but was fond of the Bible's teachings about morality. He cut and pasted from the New Testament scriptures dealing with morals and but left anything and everything else that dealt with miracles and the Divine Nature of Jesus Christ.
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So I wrote this to say, as Christians, we have to understand where our help comes from. It doesn't come from a Republican... it doesn't come from a Democrat. In fact, it doesn't come from anything in politics! Your help comes from the Lord! The Lord who MADE Heaven and Earth!

Don't get drawn into these political arguments believing that being on a certain side is more "holier" than the other. The fact is, when the American government was set up, they denied Jesus Christ as the Messiah. And the way the political process and economy has been established in the USA, has and will always deny Jesus Christ as long as it is identified as Capitalist Democracy.

 
Yes, we should be involved with the political process. Yes, we should be aware of social issues in our own communities and the world around us. Yes, we should fight against injustice by using the political system and discourse. Because we are citizens of this nation. But we must remember our first allegience is to God in Jesus Christ and the commandment that we love one another as He loved us.
 

³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35(NIV)

So be informed of the issues on the ballot (local, state, federal); start dissecting these campaign ads;  get to know the people who are running; because everyone that proclaims to believe in God... is not a Christian. And you will know if they are a Christian not by the issues they support  or do not support, but by the people they have encountered and touched.

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate: Christian on Christian Crime

A Thin Line Between Love and Hate: Christian on Christian Crime

1 John 2:3-10  (NIV)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.

4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:

6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.

8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.

10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.

When we entertain rumors, gossip, suspicion, lies, stereotypes, and fears about others in our lives, we give room for the enemy to make a presence in the way we process the truth about others and ourselves.

We are never able or capable to see, hear, understand others and overall, fully love, because we are constantly judging and pre-judging each other through the filters of prejudice, bigotry, and favoritism.

We treat the people who will and who have loved us unconditionally like dirt. But the one who means to do us harm, we treat them to a five star dinner on gold platters!

Are you entertaining the enemy in your life? Have you made a room in your heart that the enemy has taken his residence? Are you using devices of evil to keep others in bondage or to get into higher positions? 

Proverbs 26:21-23(NIV)

21 As charcoal to embers and as wood to fire,

so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.

22 The words of a gossip are like choice morsels;

they go down to the inmost parts.

23 Like a coating of silver dross on earthenware

are fervent lips with an evil heart.

If you are gossiping, if you are spreading rumours, if you are lying, let me tell you... you are putting yourself on a red eye jet pass ticket to an eternity in hell!

James 3:5-8 (NIV)
5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.
6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind,
8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

We have to LOVE people through their mess! I don't mean coddle, pat their back, and tell them that it's right! I mean PRAY FOR THEM! We may not agree with how people live or the choices they may make, but it is not our mission to judge people or put them in man/woman made living hell prisons!


1 John 5:16-17 (NIV)

16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.

Sometimes many Christians think that by talking behind someone's back or belittling another person, you are helping that person to see that they are wrong. But this is not the way that God wants us to treat others, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ! We are to PRAY for our brothers and sisters!

James 3:9-10 (NIV)
⁹ With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.
¹⁰ Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.
Why are we choosing to the opposite of what the Word of God says to do? Why are we aiming to tear down each other with our words instead of building up and blessing each other with prayer???

People who say they love God should not have so much hate and evil in them.... they shouldn't.... but they do. These type of people are not lovers of God, because if they truly loved God, they would not do such things to other brothers and sisters in Christ.

1 John 2:15-17 (NIV)

On Not Loving the World

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

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Even though the Word of God tells us not to love this world and the sin of this world, not to do bad things... we still do. The fact is, because we all have done so and will do so at one time in our lives, means WE ALL NEED TO REPENT AND CHANGE from the ways that tear down and destroy our souls. If you believe in God through Christ Jesus, you should know and believe that through His power, we are able to choose a better Way, a more perfect Way, God's Way!

1 John 5:18-20  (NIV)
¹⁸ We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
¹⁹ We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
²⁰ We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

God can and will cleanse us from the impurity of our lips, hearts, and minds. God can and will keep us from sinning. God can and will follow through with His Word. God never fails. We as believers need to take His Word seriously and understand, that our actions have consequences.

My Opinion: The Role of Husbands and Wives, Male & Female according to the Bible

The Role of Husbands and Wives, Male & Female according to the Bible


Eph.5


*25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;*


26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,


27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.


*28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.*


*29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:*


30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.


31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.



As a wife I should be able to put trust in my husband as the authority figure of our household, not because I am weaker, but because the Bible instructs me to yield to his authority as the leader of our family.



This does not mean that the wife has no say- so in the decisions of the household, because in Eph. 5:21, the Bible instructs both husband and wife to submit to each other in the fear of the Lord. Rather, we both take into consideration each others opinions, feelings, and thoughts. Even when one is not in the physical presence of the other, any decision that is made that would affect the family, that spouse should consider and if possible, at all times consult with the other spouse.



The final decision though, should be made by the husband, and hopefully that husband is a Godly man so all his decisions should be prayfully considered, reassured and backed up by the Word of God. In doing so we both as husband and wife can be on one accord as one flesh.



The problem we are having with our families in today's society day is that frequently we see that there is no husband-wife dynamic present in the home. It is even more prevalent that there is no male figure in the home at all, so unfortunately the woman has had to stand in the place as mother/protector/breadwinner/authority figure. So when this has happened now for generations, we have a culture of masculinized women and feminized men. Girls are taught to be strong, taught that they don't need a man at all. Boys are taught to be sensitive to their feelings, and as long as they look good, are entertaining, or can use their physical prowess in some type of way, they'll always be loved and excepted. We have socialized ourselves to think of each other in topsy turvy roles of what is exceptable and acceptable for the male and female.



And I know time changes, culture changes, society changes... but the Word of God never changes. We've got to get back to who God really wants us to be as individuals and as Men and Woman.