Desperate Women, Desperate Measures, Desperate Times!

"In that day seven women
will take hold of one man
and say, "We will eat our own food
and provide our own clothes;
only let us be called by your name.
Take away our disgrace!" (Isaiah 4:1, NIV text)

The situation concerning which Isaiah prophecied is not far from true in our own day. So many women do not know what it means to be a woman, neither do they know what it means to be a man (it is important to know both since woman comes from man and must be defined in light of this--for women are not independent of men (nor men of women) (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:11-12, Genesis 1-2), nor do they know what a good husband is like and what it is that their hearts truly long for.

In the culture which brings us such shows as Sex and the City, The O.C., and Desperate Housewives, it is no surprise that both men and women are confused as to right and wrong and what is actually good for them. The days of chivalry are dying off quickly for the lust of feminism. Men are often seen as, portrayed as, and become merely sex-driven maniacs who will do anything to get a woman (or as many women as possible) into bed. Men are becoming mere machines who are passively controlled by the whims of any sun-bathed blond. No longer does the man seek to please his date in gentlemanly kindness so that she will have an enjoyable evening, rather, these men only show any kindness to get a night of pleasure, and they'll live at the mercy of their date to gain this mud-pie of a reward.

With this loss of true manhood has also come a loss of true womanhood. Women have been reduced, in many occassions, to mere sex objects. Our culture, in the name of liberating women, has made them to be mere objects for perverted pleasures. Women are made to think that they have to look a certain way--and many go to any extreme to become the starved Victoria's Secret model that God has not crafted them to be. There is a fine line between seeking to be a stick figure and seeking to live a healthy life--but women are told they must be a 5'10" size 0. Women are made to think that they must be the pursuers, and not the pursued. They are left to believe that they must present themselves in a way that men will take the bait; they are conditioned to believe that they must grab hold of a man at all costs, and that they must be the instigators.

Now, I am not degrading women in the least, and I apologize if it seems that I am, rather, I am simply stated what I have observed--after all, I have met some very amazing, godly women in my life. But I have also seen guy's websites that have desperate women who are searching for someone to love them posting comments about the guy's body, how they want him, and countless other quite illicit blurbs. The women want to be noticed, they want to be liked, even if that means that all that they get is a guy who treats them horribly. They aren't concerned with finding a man of God (for Christians, and at least a genuinely sincere, intelligent, gentleman for unbelievers) who will treasure them for the rest of their lives. Rather, they'll try to attach themselves to a man who has fading affections for them. Women beware! Men often know what you want. They can play the part of a witty, charming, seemingly caring man until they have you emotionally dependant upon them--then, when it is too late, they show their true selfish, conceited, uncaring nature. These men will not make good husbands, and don't think for a moment that you'll truly be able to change them.

Many women, so confused by the culture, are left in a never ending search for romance and love in all the wrong places. Many do not even know what they truly want or need. Rather than looking for a man who is genuinely kind to them, who has a servant's heart and is willing to put them first, women look for the James Bond model of a man. Do not look for the man who is debonair (in the modern definition), flashy, and can merely show you a good time. Look for a man who is following God, and follow him. Look for a man who is kind to all, not just to you on rare occassions. Look for a man who you think is attractive; but remember that you don't need Tom Cruise. Look for a man with whom you can have fun, but also a man who can be serious and who can be the head of a household. No man is perfect. He's going to have faults. If he is a man who is worth keeping, he'll listen to you, so tell him what you perceive as his faults and help him to work on them. If you find a man like this, he's a rare find (they were rare in Biblical times, and they are just as rare now)--as is a godly women (cf. Proverbs 31:10).

It's a sad day in which we live--times that are quite like those of Isaiah. Desperate women are going to desperate measures to find themselves desperately lacking men. Sisters (and brothers) in Christ, do not get sucked into this trap. Men, do not be "hanger-outer boys." Women, do not seek to force yourself into a relationship with the rockstar by posting seductive pictures and sayings on his website. Seek excelence, not cultural mores.

Read more »

Twelve Stones Cry ‘Historical Theism’

Joshua “said to the sons of Israel, ‘When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, ‘What are these stones?’ then you shall inform your children saying, ‘Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed, just as the LORD your God had done to the Red Sea, which He dried up before you until we had crossed; that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever” (Joshua 4:21-24).

The Lord, the God of Israel had commanded Joshua, the leader of Israel who replaced Moses’ 40 year campaign, to have twelve men, one from each tribe of Israel, “Take up for yourselves twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests’ feet are standing firm, and carry them over with you and lay them down in the lodging place where you will lodge tonight” (vv.2-3). These stones were to be a perpetual reminder to each succeeding generation of the children of Israel of the mighty work of their God—specifically to remind them of how He had dried up the Jordan for them to cross over on firm ground, and also to be a reminder to them that He had done the same when they crossed the Red Sea forty years earlier.

So the modern question now arises (and is carried over quite willingly, if not even more so by postmodernism), “Was this event a historical event,” that is, did it actually physically occur in space and time, “or was it a mythological ‘truth’” being true only to the culture of ancient Israel to form them into a people around a common center?

It was in my undergrad that I was exposed to the wide-world of ‘myth.’ Myth, according to secular religion professors, does not carry the connotations generally assigned to it by the common people. Myth actually means something like, ‘A truth to a certain people at a certain time in history that creates their ‘story’.” Myths are always true; even though they may not actually be historically factual. For example, the Greek myths were true to the ancient Greeks during that time, even though we now realize that they were not a historical fact. Sure they were real, but they never had any real reality that could be verified by science. The thing about myths, is that they are all always true to the culture which adopts them—all of them. In other words, Jewish myths, Hindu myths, and Greek myths are all simultaneously true, even though one may be fact or none of them may be fact.

This understanding of ‘myth’ was applied to all events that recorded the miraculous or some kind of interaction between the spiritual and the physical. Because the system of naturalism is accepted and applied, the spiritual and the physical are two separate realms which cannot actually interact—that is, interact in fact—though they can interact in the reality of any individual or community: “What is true for you is not true for me; what is true for me is not true for you.” Now, I’m not going to get into how this stems from Kantian and Hume’s philosophy (you could write volumes on this topic), but I realize it needs to be summed up in a simple sentence: We create our own reality and our own reality creates us. Myths are what we create and myths are what create us.

Now, naturalism as a philosophical worldview (sorry postmodernism, this is what formed you and this is what most postmodernists embrace at the heart of their understanding) does not leave any room for a theistic (transcendent and immanent) God. Naturalism can have deities, though they are ruled by the system (that is, gods who are overruled by laws of cause and effect and all other rules that govern the universe). It can also have a transcendent god—that is, a God who created all things but either does not have any control over the system/does not care/allows the clock to run itself, or the god has actually ceased to exist (a first cause but not a necessary logical cause—a creator, not a sustainer, to make things a little more understandable). In other words, what occurred in Joshua 4 did not historical occur, but rather is a myth to explain the community and its understanding of its reality.

Here we run into a problem. In the Biblical account, the immanent God of historic, theistic Judaism (the Trinitarian God of Christianity) intervened and stopped up the Jordan River as long as the priests carrying the Arc of the Covenant remained in the middle of the riverbed. This allowed the nation of Israel to cross the river on dry land and twelve men to return to the river and pick up twelve stones to place in the first camping spot on the west-side of the river where the nation camped. These twelve stones would be a perpetual reminder as a monument recalling the historic, factual event that occurred that day. Thus, when the children asked their fathers (and they would) what this monument meant, the fathers were to explain what had occurred that day. This event was to be proclaimed because of its faith creating ability. The telling of the event was to remind the older generation and to enlighten the new generation of what the God of Israel had done for them. Thus, the older generation would be reminded of the covenant and faithfulness of the God of Israel, and they would remain faithful to the covenant or return to covenant faithfulness and trust in the LORD, their God, and the new generation would learn of this God’s past actions and faithfulness to His people and would trust whole-heartedly in the LORD and would faithfully follow the stipulations of His covenant. Thus, it was insured (except for the problem of sin, which I will not discuss here) that the nation of Israel would remain faithful to their God and obediently follow Him in faith—this would insure the nations perpetual existence, as God had promised to keep the nation if they obeyed Him and kept covenant (we know the outcome, as they were not obedient, and this is how it was meant to be, so that the problem of sin could be dealt with in the Messiah).

Now, we must conclude that there were twelve stones that had been lain at a certain place not far from the Jordan River (I’d imagine that they are no longer how they were constructed at Gilgal, but at one time they stood erect as Joshua had placed them). Thus, we must choose the conclusion we are going to draw from this. Either, A) the stones were actually set there because of an historical event that actually occurred (the drying up of the Red Sea), B) someone made up the whole story and placed the rocks there to bring unity (deception—and there is no way around saying that this was deception), C) no rocks were ever there and this story was created after the exile to bring the community together, or D) (this is my favorite explanation, though I think it is no less bull-shenanigans then B and C) the rocks were actually placed there after the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River. However, they were placed there not because Israel had factually crossed on dry ground, but because they had waded their way through the river and in their way of seeing things, God had kept the loss of life to a minimum—let’s say, just for mere speculation, that only 73 men, 206 women, and 13 children had died in crossing the river (that’s not bad out of a whole nation!). Or perhaps the river was actually dried up because the rainy season hadn’t come that year. Thus, the part in the story about the river overflowing its banks (cf. v. 18), the loss of no life, the crossing on dry ground, the river backing up into the distant town of Adam (3:16), and so forth, developed over some indeterminate amount of time and was past down until it came to be written. Naturalists, even though B), C), and D) are quite far-fetched and rely upon the deceiving spirit of people who were told not to bear false witness and who seemed to be otherwise moral people, cannot accept answer A), since it demands the work of an immanent, transcendent, theistic God. Perhaps those who do not accept the theistic worldview (a God who can and does actually involve Himself in ‘miraculous’ ways in our world/universe) will have to adjust their system—and there is good reason for them to do so (read something by Alvin Plantinga or Robert Nash and you will see why naturalism does not hold water).

Twelve stones stood to bear witness of the historical event of the God of Israel’s supernatural intervention into the affairs of this world. Those twelve stones will bear witness again anyone who does not accept their testimony. God did not have these stones set up merely for the nation of Israel, but “that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, so that you may fear the LORD your God forever” (4:24). Those stones were set up and this event was recorded to be a witness to the power, wisdom, and love of the one and only true and living God for all peoples everywhere throughout the world for all times—past, present, and future (with 2005 A.D./C.E. being the present date in the mind of this author).

In the same way, an empty tomb sits somewhere in Jerusalem, though the record of that empty tomb sits on the shelves in most people’s houses and in most libraries across the globe. It lays witness to the factual resurrection and accomplished work of the King of Glory, the Lord of Life, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. The records will bear witness against those who will not accept their historical testimony. Twelve stones and an empty tomb bear witness to the reality of the Trinitarian/Theistic/Historical God of Christianity…will you accept their testimony and the life that comes through faith in the One to whom they bear witness, or will you reject this testimony and the God behind the event and stand before Him in judgment for calling Him a liar? “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length of your days” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20a), and “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself” (Acts 2:38-39).

Read more »

Hurricanes, Diseases, and Wars: Oh, My! or Praise Be to God?

In January I posted an article on God’s sovereignty in the Southeast Asian Tsunami. My conclusion was simple: God was and is in control of the tsunami and its aftermath, and yet, despite our flawed thinking and feelings, God is merciful, good, and loving. To this I received mostly negative feedback, even though my article pointed out that what I was saying is completely biblical.

Today as I met together with the saints at Clifton Baptist to worship God, Dr. Bruce Ware preached a message in place of Pastor Tom Schreiner. Ware, one of the major opponents of Open Theism and longtime proponent of God’s sovereign reign over the universe, preached a sermon from Isaiah 44:24-45:7. His message was quite timely, both in that it is an appropriate message and reminder to all, no matter what circumstances they are facing, and in light of a recent tragedy which occurred to some of his friends, which he detailed in the sermon (to hear the message, go to http://cliftonbaptist.worshiporganizer.com/index.php?sermons=1).

Considering what has been occurring in recent news, our understanding of God’s sovereignty has become crucial. As Hurricanes Dennis and now Emily pound the Caribbean and Yucatan, killing many unfortunate people who are either trapped in the storms’ paths, or who have attempted to weather-out the storms, and left hundreds homeless—according to Fox News, “National Hurricane Center in Miami, said it [Emily] was the strongest storm to form this early in the Atlantic season since record-keeping began in 1860,” in an extremely stormy season already—as war continues in Iraq with many innocent people dying, many US and coalition troops dying at the hands of revolutionaries, and Britain’s transportation system being attacked by terrorists, God’s sovereignty comes under question by many—some of who claim to be defending God. There is also an issue which I hit me a little closer to home. I learned from a friend that some people on a Campus Crusade summer project have been experiencing great distresses. On one project, people have involved in serious automobile accidents and one person had a disease which, had it been treated early, would have been cured without any issue, but since it was not treated early, the young man experiencing the disease had to be operated on, he almost died, and now is undergoing much painful treatment and will have weeks of difficult recovery. What has this man done to deserve this? After all, this young man was out serving God—he is one of God’s children.

In light of this, we must turn to our only reliable source—Scripture. Dr. Ware chose a text that is quite appropriate in dealing with these issues. Isaiah 44:24-45:7 says,

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone, causing the omens of boasters to fail, making fools out of diviners, causing wise men to draw back and turning their knowledge into foolishness, confirming the word of His servant and performing the purpose of His messengers. It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’ And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’ And I will raise up her ruins again. It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’ And I will make your rivers dry. It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

Thus says the Lord to Cyrus His anointed, whom I have taken by the right hand, to subdue nations before him and to loose the loins of kings; to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden wealth of secret places, so that you may know that is it I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name. For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

In Isaiah, God makes promises to Israel—though we can put those who are God’s children, that is, the Church, in their place. His promises to them, however, are far off. Isaiah is writing in approximately 740 BC, while we know that Cyrus did not bring this to pass until 538 BC. Judah had to be destroyed—which Isaiah was predicting, seeing as he was predicting the rebuilding of the Temple and the cities of Judah. Then, and only then, could this prophecy come about.

Notice in this passage that God is making clear that He is in control of Nature and the Nations, as Dr. Ware pointed out in his message (vv. 24-27). God is the Creator and Sustainer of all. He is in control of Jerusalem and its habitation (v. 26). He is sovereign over all, including the seas and the rivers. This control over nature extends to God’s control over hurricanes and diseases. God controls the natural forces, according to Scripture. If He does not, then we live in a vacuum of fatalistic cause and effect, and we are at the whim of impersonal forces. No Christian should ever adopt such a view. Rather, this is a naturalistic worldview. If God is not today controlling the forces of nature (germs, solar flares, tectonic activities, and tropical winds included), then neither did He stop the storm on the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35-41). If God was in absolute control when He walked the earth, then certainly He is in control now (cf. Hebrews 13:8).

God is also in control of the nations. God raises up nations and He brings them to naught (i.e. Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece, Rome, etc). God is control even of what they do and purpose to do. If God is not in control, including of the war on terrorism in which we are currently entangled, then we are at the whim of evil men, demons, and Satan himself. Either these evil men, demons, and the devil answer completely to God’s desires and are only following God’s foreordained will, or else they are in control. The Bible is clear—YHWH is in control, and no other. He is God, and besides Him, there is no God (45:5).

We see that God was in control of the events that led to the birth of a pagan king (Cyrus didn’t know the God of Israel—cf. 3-5—and God even controlled the naming of this man), He was in control of his rise to power, and He was in control of Cyrus’s heart, as Cyrus sent the exiles back and even supported them. He was God’s “anointed” (v.1) even though he did not believe in the God of Israel. Cyrus obeyed the every desire of the Lord (v. 28). God even controls unbelievers. They only do that which He allows them to do and which He has ordained to happen. God is even in control of what the Iraqi insurgents do. This does not mean that what they do is not sin. God is not pleased by their actions, since their actions are in opposition to God’s revealed will. Rather, their brutality will be judged on the day that God judges the earth (cf. Romans 2:12-16).

God does all of this for His glory (v. 6). The pain, death, and destruction that take place are part of God’s refining fire for His children (cf. Romans 8:28-39). The evil that takes place is not gratuitous, as some claim. Rather, it is for the purification of God’s people. God makes this clear to the Israelites, as Dr. Ware pointed out, in v. 24 when He tells them that He is their Redeemer, the one who formed them from the womb. God’s promise is to His people. The evil that takes place are means to bringing about His purposes. If you ask, “Why doesn’t He use other means,” I must reply, “Who are you to question the infallible wisdom of God? Humble yourself, or be abased!” (And that is exactly what God is saying that He is doing, in v. 25. His ways are contrary to the wisdom of humans, and yet His ways show them to be fools (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18ff).

Notice with me the end of verse 6 into verse 7: “I am the LORD, and there is no other, the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.” Dr. Ware calls texts like this “spectrum texts.” In other words, texts that span the whole spectrum of what occurs in reality. Here we see that God forms both light and darkness. While Satan may be the prince of darkness, ultimately He is a tool. God is in control. God is also in control of well-being (‘shalom’—peace, as Dr. Ware clarified the Hebrew) and calamity (‘ra,’ which can also be translated as ‘evil’). God controls the good that occurs to us—such as the receiving of new cars, spouses, peace, good grades, and jobs, and yet He is also in control of the bad we receive, such as deaths, auto accidents, tornadoes, floods, cancer, etc. As Dr. Ware pointed out, two similar spectrum texts include Deuteronomy 32:39, and 1 Samuel 2:6-7. In these texts, it is made clear that God brings both life and death, wounding and healing, the making rich and the making poor, the exalting and the lowering. God is sovereign over all. This is the same thing that Job proclaimed in Job 1-2.

As Dr. Ware mentioned, Nebuchadnezzar came to the realization of God’s sovereignty and goodness in Daniel 4:34-35. After being debased by God for his pride, Nebuchadnezzar said he “raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have you done?’” I need to make no comments on this passage, for it cannot be clearer. God does everything and anything He desires, and all that takes place in heaven and earth is in accord with what He is ordained to occur (though sin contradicts His revealed purpose).

Now, as I briefly mentioned concerning Nebuchadnezzar in the preceding paragraph, God’s sovereign rule over all that occurs, both good and evil, and that God is wholly good, must be held simultaneously as true. God is Himself good, and He is in no way evil, though He controls both good and evil. 1 John 1:5 tells us, “God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all” (italics mine). Though God forms both light and darkness, God is light, not darkness (also cf. John 3:19-21). Though God controls both peace (shalom) and calamity/evil (ra), God is “not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness; No evil [“ra” according to Dr. Ware, as I have not yet studied Hebrew] dwells in You” (Psalm 5:4). As Moses announced just prior to his death, “all His [YHWH’s] ways are just; [He is] a God of faithfulness and without injustice, righteous and upright is He” (Deuteronomy 32:4). Though this is difficult for us to accept and to understand (though, not completely impossible), as Dr. Ware made clear, we must bow before God’s Word, submit to it, and accept His revelation concerning Himself.

As God’s people, that is, we who are members of His Church, we can trust that God will do only good for us. Though this good may require discipline (cf. Hebrews 12:4-13), include tribulations (cf. Romans 5:1-5, 8:31-39, James 1:2-4), and hold many other hardships that are to make us fit for the glory ahead (cf. 2 Corinthians 4:16-17, 1 Peter 5:1), we must continue to trust that all that God does for His people is governed by His love for us and His purposes of sanctifying us; we can trust that all that befalls us is from the hand of the Good Physician who knows our every weakness and ailment, who is our Heavenly Father who holds us in His hand. We can rest with confidence in God’s love, His power, and His wisdom (all of which are good and infinite) when grief comes rather than blaming Him and cursing Him for the evil that His hand controls.

If you are not trusting in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work alone for salvation and you are reading this, recognize that you are unreconciled to the holy God of this universe. You are an enemy of God and He holds your life in His hands. His judgment is just and it is certain. He could take your life at any moment, and He would be completely justified in doing so. You have transgressed His holy Law and you hate Him. Turn from your evil ways and trust in Christ. Let Him be your righteousness before the judgment throne of God. Only if you will be reconciled to God through Christ can you trust God to be working all things together for your God (cf. Romans 8:28).

If you find yourself disagreeing with my assessment, feel free to tell me why. But I also urge you to accept the biblical position and submit yourself to the whole counsel of God, not just bits and pieces of it. I also highly suggest that you read some books on this issue: God’s Lesser Glory, and God’s Greater Glory, both by Bruce Ware, or Beyond the Bounds, by John Piper and other authors. This is a more serious issue than many want to accept. The rejection of God’s sovereign ordination in all things is nothing short of faith destroying. The very thing that the openness view of God seeks to bolster it actual corrodes. The biblical God is ousted for a nearly deistic God who just looks on as His creation destroys itself. The lack of sovereignty is quite clearly theistic deism.

While it can be an easy thing to accept God’s sovereignty mentally, it is a far greater task to accept it whole-heartedly, and so no matter who you are, recognize that this is a lifelong process of sanctification in which God is restored to His proper position of God upon the throne of our hearts, minds, wills, and characters.

Read more »

Independence Day and Church: What do you think?

Brothers and sisters in Christ (and even those who are neighbors, but not fellow Christians), I would like feed back on this topic.

Often for the United States day of Independence (July 4), churches will hold a service that commemorates this American holiday—celebrating the founding of the nation and the freedoms that come along with it. Often this will include singing the Star Spangled Banner, a few songs like God Bless America, the Battle Hymn of the Republic, etc. The message that is given will have something to do with freedom (hopefully heavenly freedom from sin in Christ and our citizenship as members of the city of God, not about the glories of the USA, as the church is certainly not the place to praise a political/state entity.)

Now, all sorts of questions come to mind about this, and I in no way can exhaust all of the questions that can be raised about such an issue. Such questions as, should this be done during a service in which we are to worship God alone? Should we celebrate the founding of this nation, since it is the nation with the greatest amount of religious freedom ever (Baptists and Methodists would probably want to celebrate this more than Episcopals or Roman Catholics)? Should we pledge allegiance to this entity, or would that be dividing our loyalty? I’m not saying that I do not have my opinions on all of these issues, but I am wondering what other people think.

Now, some may think that the issue of separation of church and state becomes an issue here. I do not think this is an issue in this case, considering that that idea/ideal has a specific meaning. That specific meaning is that there is not to be a state sanctioned/controlled religion that is enforced upon the people. Rather, people are to have the liberty to worship how and what they desire, according to their consciences (which can be deadly wrong, seeing as humans are enslaved to sin without Christ). It seems to me that few people actually understand this concept. The separation of church and state does not mean that people cannot hold prayer meetings after school (in fact, to stop them from holding prayer meetings after school is a breach of this—since that is the state enforcing the religion of not being allowed to pray after school on school grounds, and schools are public property (since we live in a government by the people, for the people). This idea also does not mean that the Ten Commandments cannot be displayed in public buildings, such as courthouses, etc. Actually, to demand the removal of the Ten Commandments is a breach of the separation. In demanding this action, the state is enforcing the religion of naturalism (which is not an objective, neutral stance) upon the people by claiming there is no higher power to which we must answer/one cannot practice his/her religion where he/she desires. A state religion is thus being enforced. But this is a rabbit trail which I will pursue no longer.

So, if you have thoughts on this, please feel free to post them. And, I should soon be able to post more frequently again since I am now finished with my two summer-term classes. I have some stuff upon which I’d like to write, and hopefully I will do so soon.

Read more »