I used to be a bartender, and I only had a few rules: don't annoy me, don't annoy my customers, no religion, and no politics. Politics and religion polarize people in a way no two other subjects can. You could only imagine how quickly drunk people will get into a yelling match; hence, the rule. If you think because of the title of my post that I do not want anything to do with religion then you would be correct. However, I love Jesus!!! If you are confused, no problem, I will clarify.
I used to be quite a wild young man. Without going into a whole lot of detail, lets just say I lived the bartender lifestyle to the fullest. For several years I was looking for something. The funny thing was I did not even realize I was looking for it until I found it. I was searching high and low for Jesus unbeknownst to me. The irony was HE was there the whole time. Finally, after so much struggling and failure, I was ready for a change. It was Christmas night 2005 when my family was praying that I received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I had an encounter with Jesus and my life was never the same. I left my life behind in Knoxville and moved back home. Jesus is so good!!!! Three months later, I spent 2 months in Kenya traveling throughout the countryside telling people about how the radical love of Jesus changed my life. You might be thinking, "what does this have to do with anything?"
The reason I say this is because our problems can all be resolved by one thing, a relationship with Jesus. It is not about religion. Religion constricts and distorts man's image of God. Religion is simply knowing about God, but Jesus died so that we could know HIM and when you know someone on a personal level, that's a relationship. A.W. Tozer said, "A civilization can never rise above it's own perception of God." I would submit to you that right now America's perception of God is dismal. The reason is because so many do not know Him. He is actually very nice and loves to talk to His children. So many Christians especially in America have waved the banner of religion but forgotten their first love, Jesus. The result is people become so disenchanted with the Church and everything it represents they want nothing to do with it. That is the harvest we are currently reaping in America. The secular progressivism that is so pervasive today results from people wanting nothing to do with religion. The fact is people have already been to church, and they found nothing there they wanted. How can people who do not know Jesus demonstrate His love and kindness to others? The answer is simple; they cannot. This is the root of problem.
For me, there is no separation between Church and State, and if you read the Bible, you will see God is really into politics. I have some very concrete beliefs and am unwilling to compromise. When I read articles like these, I already know the outcome. Nowadays, when our government rules about religion, it often slants towards the secular. Sadly, we are trying to excommunicate God from everything that could possibly cause conflict but at what cost? We have a generation of children growing up that are more messed up than ever. So many kids are on drugs these days, it's crazy. Did we ever stop and think? "You know, the moral decline in America correlates to us separating ourselves from God and going our own way."
I guess the irony of it all is that we all have a faith system, but if you believe in evolution, you can't. Evolution states that everything happened by accident and we are all here by one big, accidental, biological experiment that turned out in our favor. If that is true, then nothing I do matters. There is no hope. There is no purpose because it all evolved from chance. The irony is that people who believe in evolution do not usually also agree, their life has no meaning, but ultimately, if you accept evolution, you must accept the former.
The case with Jehovah's witness is interesting because I for one love America and Jesus and see absolutely no conflict with scripture. He quoted from the 10 commandments, but a graven image is something that is worshipped. I would have asked him about Romans 13:1 which states," Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." God is very clear about submission to authority in both the Old and New Testament. In fact, there are several more verses that are just as plain that support submission to authority. The Lord is also very plain about honor, and saying the pledge of allegiance and saluting the flag is nothing more than honoring our country. It is in no way worship or idolatry. Idolatry can be defined simply as anything that you put before God. It is something that you worship. I see absolutely no conflict with scripture. I would have ruled against the Gobitases.
In closing, I would love to see something done in the classroom that would actually be beneficial. Educators are so focused on trying to get results, but we are leaving out the One who brings the harvest. I would love to see creationism taught, prayer in the classroom, the 10 commandments on the wall, and lives radically changed not managed. However, I would like to see it because it was valued. We used to invite God into our Nation but we are slowly asking Him to leave. He is a gentleman and will honor our request. We are trying to disciple a nation without the One who created discipleship. We are disregarding the most important foundation our country was built upon. Hopefully, America does not have to get into the same mess as I did before I saw the Light.
Reference:
Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Romans 13:1
Tozer, A. W., (1961). The Knowledge of the Holy.
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