Thursday, June 28, 2012

June 29, 2012

"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain. I will proclaim the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my son; today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery. "Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." Psalm 2

 
I wish there was a more positive way to greet you today but the tragic truth is we woke up this morning in post-Constitutional America, thanks to the misjudgment of the Supreme Court of the land. You and I are significantly less free than we were just 24 hours ago. The Health-Care ruling combined with the ruling against the Arizona Immigration Law, we have crossed the border from America to Ameritopia. Constitutional law was weakened and lawlessness further encouraged.
The ruling upholding the healthcare law handed the Federal Government more power than it has ever had over the lives of individual Americans – you and me. And, thanks to this ruling, the IRS will be the enforcement agency charged with making sure you comply with this new law. Oh joy!
Ironically, I purchased pocket-sized copies of the Constitution to hand out to you Sunday. I will still give them to you so you can read them and become more aware of just how bad these rulings were. Today was a victory for a larger more powerful intrusive government and a big loss for those who believe in interpreting the Constitution according to original intent.
Lest you think I am unsympathetic toward those who have health-care needs and will benefit from this ruling, I assure you I am sympathetic. In fact, it is precisely because I care about people and have given my adult life to serving them that I grieve over this Healthcare ruling. Whatever short-term benefit might be gained by those folks, will be a long-term destruction of the quality of healthcare and the freedom to make decisions about your own healthcare interests.
This healthcare law is not really about healthcare. It is primarily about giving the government massive new amounts of power over our lives. Now that they have control over your health they have control over your life because they now have power to control your behavior.
How?
Most of the things you do can somehow be linked to your health – what you eat, what you don’t eat, how much you sleep, how much you don’t sleep, how much you weigh, how much exercise you get or don’t get, how you drive, and how you raise your children – for example.
Fortunately, the Founding Fathers are dead or this would have put them in their graves. This is the very scenario the Founders envisioned when they wrote the Constitution to protect the God-given rights of the American citizens against their government.
If you have not been politically active or if you have not been well informed in political issues going into this election cycle, now is the time to jump in with both feet. This approaching election was already the most important one in our lives. Now it becomes absolutely crucial as our last hope to get rid of this dangerous expansion of government power.
Here are some excellent websites to find factual news and information from a conservative perspective:
 
TheBlaze.com
Newsmax.com
Thedrudgereport.com
Onenewsnow.com
Freedomworks.com
Hannity.com
Rushlimbaugh.com
Heritage.org
Wallbuilders.com

There is one thing left to do if you are concerned with this very questionable ruling by SCOTUS - do your best to make sure conservatives win the White House, the Senate and add to their majority in the House.

1) Make sure you are informed on the issues.
2) Make sure you are registered to vote.
3) Make sure all your families and friends are registered to vote.
4) Go to Freedomworks.com and see how you can help organize a grassroots network to help elect conservatives.
5) Pray daily for our nation and the election




 
 
 
 

June 28, 2012

"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains  and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs;  the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,  “I have installed my king  on Zion, my holy mountain.  I will proclaim the Lord’s decree. He said to me, “You are my son;  today I have become your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,  the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.  "Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear  and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him."  Psalm 2

American exceptionalism is a concept that has become despised by many nowadays, and our nation is suffering because of it. The ideas behind American exceptionalism come directly from the Word of God. Perhaps that is why they are under assault.

Psalms 2 gives a cogent presentation of these principals that our Founders understood and built into the fabric of the design and documents which formed our Republic.

If you think about it, Psalms 1 gives the idealism of a perfect society while Psalms 2 shows the realism of the world. The great notion of the Founding Fathers that lead to the establishment of a new nation built on a system that would build Psalm 1 ideals into the Psalm 2 reality.

Here is that notion expressed in their own words:

"We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."  John Adams

"I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth--that God Governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?"   Benjamin Franklin

"Man will ultimately be governed by God or by tyrants." Benjamin Franklin

"Without morals a republic cannot subsist any length of time; they therefore who are decrying the Christian religion, whose morality is so sublime and pure (and) which insures to the good eternal happiness, are undermining the solid foundation of morals, the best security for the duration of free governments." Charles Carroll, signer of the Declaration of Independence

"It is when people forget God that tyrants forge their chains." Patrick Henry

"It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position.”   George Washington

What's obvious is that the first thing exceptional about America was our Founders who dared to fight for the right to establish a new nation on this idealistic notion that a people who are lawless and rebellious by nature, could live in peace and prosperity and freedom under the rule of law!  Inspired by that ideal, guided by the truths of the Book that inspired it, and strengthened by the God Who wrote that Book, they did indeed create One Nation Under God!

The  question is, "Can we sustain it?"




June 27, 2012

"Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying,“Let us break their chains  and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs;  the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king  on Zion, my holy mountain.” I will proclaim the Lord’s decree: He said to me, “You are my son;  today I have your father. Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance,  the ends of the earth your possession. You will break them with a rod of iron; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear
and celebrate his rule with trembling. Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." Psalm 2

I wonder if the Founding Fathers were well acquainted with Psalm 2. When you consider how they crafted the Founding Documents and how they structured the government you have to think they did.

The more I read about these amazingly wise and devout men, the more impressive they become to me. One of the reasons they were able to craft the documents and design for a government that stood guard over the rise to the wealthiest, most powerful and free nation that ever graced the Earth.

They were able to build a great and free nation because they understood what freedom is and what it isn't.

What freedom isn't is freedom from authority - "The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed"

Something in the human heart yearns to be free. That is part of the image God built into the human psyche.

But the corrupt and fallen human mind fancies freedom as the ability to have total control over your own life. Like the fallen Angel, Lucifer, we "want to be like God" - large and in charge". He wasn't satisfied in his exalted position and wanted to be in charge.

He is the author of rebellion and spread his madness into the human race by way of Adam and Eve.

What freedom isn't is freedom from accountability - "Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.”

This false and fanciful notion of freedom has afflicted humanity for centuries. It is one of the reasons that in 4,000 years of recorded history there have only been about 250-300 years of peace.

Essentially, rebellion is driven by the perverted desire to be free from the consequences of our actions. Of course, that is ridiculous! If nothing else, the results of your decisions and actions come back on you! If you abuse your body you will suffer from that. If you try to control and bully other people you will eventually meet someone bigger and stronger than you and suffer from that.

But nevertheless, people still buy into it by the millions.

Let me illustrate the foolishness of this false notion of freedom. Suppose I go to the edge of the Grand Canyon and declare myself free from the law of gravity. Two seconds after leaping, I will realize I was wrong and will have a few more seconds to ponder the consequences of that dumb decision.

If you cannot free yourself from accountability to natural laws, how do you think you can escape your accountability to God? And you will suffer the consequences of an attempts to do so.

The Bible says that, "Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord."

Rebellion against God has never successed and never will! You will suffer the consequences physically, emotional, spiritually and eternally! Attempting to be free from God will result in a life of bondage under the tyranny of sin.

Deal with the rebellion in your heart. It is no small matter.