Yesterday, 15 Feb 2020, we lost our baby. This wasn’t our first miscarriage, probably our seventh or eighth, but this one was the most surprising and most devastating.
Jesus
All posts tagged Jesus
For those who call themselves “Mormons”, or affirm that they are a part of “The Church of Latter Day Saints (LDS)”, I’m writing this post for you. I’m hoping that you read this in its entirety whether or not you believe that you are already saved or know what I’m about to write to you. My hope is that before reading any further, that you sincerely pray that God will give you wisdom, understanding, and open your eyes to His Truth (James 1:5).
I believe this blog post can clear things up when it comes to who Jesus really is, who God really is, what sin is, and why all people need to be saved from sin. If you do not believe some or any of the words below, I encourage you to carefully review each Scripture reference below, and if you are confused, please consult a Bible Commentary or a non-LDS elder/pastor. I have provided Bible verses that support each thought below:
Series 1 – Part 3 of 3
Does Jesus just want us to live a good life? To just do good things and be on our way?
I would highly suggest to read Part 1 and Part 2 of this question [links below] before we move any further.
Part 1 – Are we good enough for God? (See also God’s Heart and Our Heart v2)
Part 2 – Who is Jesus?
EDIT: Addendum – Not Good Enough and Self-Esteem (added 03 Dec 2015)
From the previous blog posts we know two things:
- That humankind neither has a “good” moral standing with God, nor a “neutral” moral standing with God. Even if we were “good” or “neutral” humankind would eventually sin because of the power of choice. All of humanity, past/present/future has a sinful nature (a natural tendency to disobey and rebel against God). All of humanity sits in the same boat – we are naturally against God because of our sin. Because we have sin, we need a fix to be reconciled back to God.
- The fix for our sinful heart is believing and trusting in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to be saved. This fix is freely given to all who call upon Jesus’ name (Romans 10:13).
With these two points, can it be reasoned that Jesus just merely calls us to “lead a good life”? Does God ultimately call humankind to only love and serve one another in love (Matt 22:37-40, Gal 5:13)? To care for orphans and widows (James 1:27), to reach out your hands to the poor and those in need (Matt 25:35-40), to forgive others because God forgives you (Eph 4:32), or to not love money (Luke 18:18-25) or possessions (Mat 6:19-21)?
While all these things show the fruits of sanctification (being renewed and transformed by Jesus’ power), they are certainly not the point of Jesus’ message in the Gospel. In fact, trying to “lead a good life” or “doing good deeds” is actually what Jesus preached against –> it is anti-Gospel.
But how can all these verses point to that conclusion, they’re in the Bible!
With the evidence supported in Parts 1 & 2, Jesus was not calling us to be “good people”, Jesus is continually calling us to repent (where you are convicted of sin in your own life, and chose to follow after Jesus instead of choosing to keeping sinning). God does not want us to be deceived into thinking that we are “good enough” to be with Him, or that by helping others and doing “good deeds” will somehow save us or make everything right. It won’t! Jesus refuted this kind of thinking with the Jewish leaders and teachers of the day (Luke 11:38-54). They thought that they and God were on good terms because they performed good deeds or thought of themselves as “good people”. Just like today’s culture believes that”being a good person” or “trying to do the right thing” or “having one’s good deeds outweigh the bad ones” will somehow make everything right.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but it only leads to death” (Proverbs 14:12)
“He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous”, Jesus was speaking about this very thing!!! (Luke 18:9-14, Revelation 3:17). We are blind and self-deluded if we truly believe that sin doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter, and that “We’ll be fine” when we die and meet God at His judgment seat (Revelation 20:11-15).
Repentance is the answer:
- Turn to the Lord and He will not forsake you (Deuteronomy 4:29-31)
- If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
- Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. (Proverbs 28:13)
- I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32)
- No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3)
- No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:5) [repeating Himself]
- The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30)
- If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.(1 John 1:9)
- Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:19)
Jesus continually called out to people to “Repent” whether they were the early Israelites, the Jews in Jesus’ day or today, or the Gentiles (non-Jews) from Jesus’ day or today. The overarching theme throughout the entire Bible, from Genesis to Revelation is this:
- God exists
- God created
- Man rebels
- God promises Man a Savior
- God calls Man to repent and be saved (repeats throughout every book, every story)
- God brings Man the Savior
- The Savior returns to complete His Holy Restoration
Having said all of that, God does call us to love Him and love others (Mark 12:28-31) but the reason we do it is what really matters (our heart-motivation). Christians do not try to love others and live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18) in order to gain God’s love or acceptance, or to create a better world, or do it because it’s the “right thing to do”, or begrudgingly do it because God commanded us to, or do it to feel good about ourselves [which is, in of itself, actually selfish to help others in order to feel good, but I digress].
Christians love others (believers and non-believers both) because we know we are loved and accepted by God. Christians know that God already loves and accepts them because they are adopted into God’s family through Christ Jesus (Ephesians 1:5).
But wait, there’s more!
Jesus wants us to not only show love to others by helping them in the physical sense, but to aid them in the spiritual sense. How can we truly love someone by meeting all their physical needs and yet, they still die not knowing Jesus or freedom from sin? Loving someone is showing them the Gospel – that they don’t have to be away from God and die in their sins. Hating someone is where you help them through life and refuse to tell them of the most important thing that has ever mattered. Hating someone is withholding the Truth and pretending everything is fine.
Jesus calls us to love others in the physical sense, but also in the spiritual sense (their souls) through the Great Commission:
- “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)
- “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8)
In conclusion, does Jesus just want us to live a good life? No, He wants us to repent and believe/trust in Him. After we are saved, He calls us to show love and sacrifice to others because we know Jesus has shown true love and true sacrifice to us. One of the ways to do that, is to preach the Gospel of Christ to everyone, everywhere.
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<Original work by BenBRockN. Feel free to reblog, ONLY if you give credit to the original author (me). Thanks!>
Series 1 – Part 2 of 3
(Part 1 HERE)
Who is Jesus?
The first question we answered was: Are we good enough for God? The answer was a resounding “No” from both Scripture (God’s Word written in the Bible) and by process of logic. So from Part 1 [link above] we found out that all human life has a sin issue, and that this sin issue needs to be fixed. So what is the fix? — Jesus.
Who is this Jesus?, was He a good teacher?, a great philosopher of His time?, a good medicine man?
Jesus Christ is the answer to the sin problem. Before God first created humankind, He knew that sentience, personal autonomy, and curiosity of the unknown would eventually get the better of them and sooner or later we would disobey him. The disobedience of Adam and Eve transferred to the world around them, and from then on, all of humanity would be affected by it. What sin did was create a chasm between humankind and God, separating us from Him both physically and spiritually. But, God in His wisdom, and love, and compassion, had mercy on us and devised a way to reconcile us back to Him. Starting in Genesis 3:15 and continuing throughout the Old Testament we see God making a covenant (a forever promise) with us, that one day He would bring about a Savior to destroy sin’s grip on humanity.
Okay that’s nice, but again, who is this Jesus if He is the answer?
God exists as one God, but in three persons. It’s hard to wrap our minds around, but this concept is revealed multiple times in Scripture:
- One God = Exodus 20:3, Deuteronomy 6:4, Isaiah 43:10, 1 Timothy 2:5
- Three Persons = Gen 1:26, Gen 3:22-23, Psalms 110:1, Matt 3:16-17, Matt 28:19, John 10:30, 2 Cor 13:14
God is the Father, the Son – Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God, and has existed for all eternity. But Jesus did something rather odd, something strange and at first glance, illogical by human rational. Jesus, who is God, stepped down from His throne in Heaven and took the form of humankind in order to save humanity from its sin. A King, the greatest King to ever exist, forfeited His glory and power to lovingly, mercifully, serve those creatures that rebelled against Him. It is scandalous, it is weird, but it is True. Throughout human history God has pointed us to the day when He would send a Savior to the world to help us, that Savior is Himself (Isaiah 43:11).
Jesus sacrificed Himself in our place for our sin. Jesus, dying on the cross, paid the debt that our sin required. It is paradoxical, humankind created the circumstances that allowed sin to enter us and this world and it required us to pay a debt to God that we could never afford. God foreknew this, and set in motion events to take place in order to save us from this debt-bondage called sin by way of Jesus. This Jesus, who knew no sin, who could not be controlled by sin, absorbed into Himself every sinful thought, word, and action done by humankind in the past, present, and future, and on the cross took the full-force punishment of God’s wrath on sin to pay the debt we could never repay.
This is mind-blowing! God loved us so much, that while we rebelled against Him and refused to be with Him, He figured out a way to reconcile two very weighty Truths. (1) God is perfectly just, and the consequences of sin must be dealt with for every human being ever born, God’s perfect and just wrath must be paid. (2) God is perfectly good, loving, merciful, and compassionate. He desired to save the same creatures (humans) that caused all of this strife in the first place. But not just save them from the wrath that they owed, but redeem (transform) them to bring them back to Him. In a brilliant display of God’s infinite wisdom and love, He created the rescue plan.
- God’s wrath on sin must be paid in full
- God desires to rescue humankind from its own destruction
God would come down from Heaven and take on human flesh, absorbing the sin of all humankind accumulated in all past/present/future time, and in one single moment in history He would take the punishment of all that sinfulness: God’s full-force and just wrath.
–> God paid the debt that God required <–
It is scandalous, ridiculous, too momentous to succeed, but He did it, and He did it for us out of His great love for us! Yes, even while we in the past, present, or future may reject Him, or curse His name, or even those who stoned Him as He walked to Calvary’s Hill to die on our behalf – He chose to love us: His misfit, rebellious children. (Romans 5:8)
In conclusion, Who is Jesus? Jesus Christ is not a mere man, nor a philosopher, nor a good teacher. He is the only begotten Son of God, both fully Man and fully God, who has fixed the penalty of our (humankind’s) sinful heart issue by His perfect life, death and resurrection. And He freely gives it to all who call on His name (Romans 10:13).
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P.S.
Some people even in today’s time believe that Jesus was not God-in-the-flesh as is revealed in Scripture (John 1:1, 1:14), but just a mere man who was a “good teacher”. While Jesus was fully human, He was also fully God. A “good teacher” would not proclaim that He was equal with God and that He was God:
- John 5:17-18 “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
- John 8:58 “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
- John 10:30-33 “I and My Father are one.”
- Mark 14:61-62 “”Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am“”
- Luke 24:52 “And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy”
- Matthew 14:33 “And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.””
Not only that, but the biggest blow to the argument that “Jesus was just a man” is that if Jesus Christ was just a man, then what Salvation do we have? Mere men have no quality to be worshiped since they themselves have the issue of sin just like the rest of humanity. If Jesus was a mere man, not begotten of God, then He blasphemed the Holy name of the Lord when He said He was equal with God. And if Jesus was a mere man who lied about being God, then we know that the Resurrection was also a lie because mere men cannot die and then raise themselves back up. If there is no Resurrection of Christ, then there is no hope from being able to conquer sin and death and be reconciled back to God, and the whole of Christianity is a lie. If Jesus was a mere man, then we have no Savior, we are still dead in our sins, and all Christians should be pitied and told never to speak of that name again.
It is impossible, illogical, and insane to say that you are a Christian* and to also believe that Jesus was not God-in-the-flesh, but just a man — just a good teacher.
* The true and actual definition of a Christian is: A wholehearted follower/believer in Christ Jesus and His Gospel; believing/trusting that God sent His Son, Jesus, to save mankind from its sins and bring them back to God through His perfect life/death/resurrection.
Luckily for everyone’s sakes, this belief is not true. Jesus was both fully man and fully God, Jesus did conquer sin and death on the cross, Jesus did rise from grave and show multitudes of people His divinity and power, and most importantly – Jesus did save us through His perfect life and perfect death.
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P.P.S
For an additional read, I have inserted text below from a book I am currently working on that has more references to Scripture.
NOTE: The following is an excerpt from a book that I am writing, all contained in blockquote format. None of the following may be reproduced in any way:
Who is Jesus? → Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten son1. He is both fully God, and fully man. He was bestowed all the power of God2, and yet humbly took the image of man3. He understood our sins because He Himself lived life as man and was tempted in all the ways man was, but yet knew no sin and was blameless before God4. He celebrated and sang5, He had compassion and mercy6, He wept7, He was thirsty8, He was hungry9, He became grieved10, He became weary11, He felt pain12, and He died13; but He (being God and having power and authority of God) rose to life again on the third day14. God sent His son Jesus to save His children (everyone on earth) from their sins15.
Jesus lived the life that we should have lived and died the death that we should have died, taking in God’s full-force wrath (His complete holy and just payment for our sin), and in doing so, justifying us (making us right) before God once and for all.
(1) John 3:16 (2) Matthew 28:18, Philippians 2:9-11, John 1:1-4, 14 (3) Luke 2:7, Galatians 4:4-5 (4) 2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 2:18, Hebrews 4:15-16, Matthew 5:17-18, 1 John 3:5 NIV, Romans 8:2-4, Romans 10:3-4, Galatians 5:18, Hebrews 7:26-27 (5) John 2:1-11, Matthew 26:30, Mark 14:26 (6) Matthew 9:36, Matthew 14:14, Matthew 15:32, Matthew 20:34, Mark 1:41, Mark 5:19, Mark 6:34, Mark 8:2, Luke 7:13 (7)John 11:35 (8) John 19:28 (9) Matthew 4:2 (10) Mark 8:12 (11) John 4:6 (12) Isaiah 52:14 (13) Matthew 27:50, Mark 15:37, Luke 23:46, John 19:30 (14) Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-19, Luke 24:1-53, John 20:1-31 (15) Matthew 1:21, John 10:17-18 NLT, Romans 8:2-4, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:7
NOTE: The above text is an excerpt from a book that I am writing, all contained in blockquote format. None of the above text may be reproduced in any way.
<Original work by BenBRockN. Feel free to reblog, ONLY if you give credit to the original author (me). Thanks!>
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Series 1 – Part 1 of 3
Are we good enough for God?
At the core of Christianity, we have Jesus. The Gospel (meaning Good News) describes the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ; and it is good news because while Jesus was dying on the cross, He took upon Himself the price of sinfulness of all of humanity (of all nations, of all tribes, past/present/future) (John 1:29). The price (wages) of sin is death – both physically and spiritually apart from God (Romans 3:23). God is perfectly good and perfectly just (Deu 32:4, Ps 145:8-9), so He gives us the freedom of choice – to choose Him or not choose Him. God did not want us to be robots, but to have sentience and personal autonomy. We as sinful humans can either believe in Jesus to be saved from the wages of sin or choose to run away from Him and do our own things [which, ultimately, only leads to the destruction of ourselves and others (Proverbs 14:12, Matthew 7:13-14)].
So lets back up a bit, why do we have to be sinful, why are we not neutral with God and have the ability, the choice, to live a good life or not to?
It all goes back to the Garden of Eden – the place where God created the first man and first woman – Adam and Eve. They also had sentience and personal autonomy gifted by God, and not only that, before the Fall of Mankind, Adam and Eve had the perfect human relationship with God. They knew God intimately not just on a spiritual level, but physically, emotionally and mentally. Human curiosity and personal autonomy came over them and they decided to believe a deceiving serpent instead of the Creator of everything (who they witnessed create themselves!). When they disobeyed God, they brought upon themselves, the Earth and its creatures, and all humankind after them, the curse of sin – a natural tendency to rebel against God, along with a broken world to live in. A world that now knew sickness, pain, death, and all sorts of evil things.
If a perfect human will eventually cave into curiosity & autonomy and make the wrong decision when handed the keys of the power to make up one’s own mind… wouldn’t it be correct to assume that us, humankind already born in the pit of sin, cannot by themselves get out of our sinfulness and make a superior decision to those (Adam & Eve) that were already on God’s “good side” or at least “neutral side” (before the Fall) when it came to decision-making? I say no.
But some will say: “I am not Adam nor Eve! I am me, I am different, I won’t make the same mistake as they have! I have knowledge of those past events, I think differently than them. If God wiped all sinfulness in my heart, and could make me a clean slate, as Adam and Eve were before the Fall, I would not make that decision!”
I still say no. If God decided tomorrow to reset everyone’s whole-person “righteousness” clock (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually), we as humans still hold the power of choice – to choose to obey God or disobey Him. God has given everyone a conscience, a moral compass to know what is right and wrong, and further, God has given Christ-followers the Holy Spirit to guide their choices towards God and not away from Him. Even still, we have the power of choice. This would logically produce one of three results (without any divine intervention, e.g. God transforming people’s hearts to Him):
- Those who outright disobey and do not choose God – (purposeful sin)
- Those who want to obey God and His ways (or for a certain streak in their lives do obey ALL of God’s ways) but make a bad choice and in doing so, introduce sin into their lives – (accidental sin).
- Those who know God and follow all of His ways, no matter what life choices or circumstances occur (would not exist in humankind)
Number three would not be a possibility for humankind because we are not all-knowing, we can never know all of God’s ways or know God thoroughly enough to make ALL of humanity’s choices God-glorifying. The only entity that could accomplish this would be an equal to God in knowledge and morality thus being from God Himself. Not only that, but having head-knowledge of what is truly right and wrong, does not give one the power or ability to perform to that standard. That entity would have to have both the knowledge of God as well as the power or ability of God to perform an action. This entity would have to be a part of God (whether the Father, Son – Jesus Christ, or the Holy Spirit). Humanity, or any other created entity not spawning from God Himself, will never be able to achieve the third statement. Angels, who were created to be in God’s presence and are higher beings than humans still have the power of choice and some chose to sin anyway (Lucifer and his demons). For all God’s creatures, there is grace, because none of them have the capacity to know God deeply enough or have the sufficient power to ALWAYS follow Him, otherwise they would be equals to God, and we know that is not true.
The conclusion from both Scripture (God’s Word) and logic states that: No, we are not “good enough” for God.
— To get a more thorough understanding of the concept of sin and its effects on humanity, with Biblical Scripture to back it up, please read God’s Heart and Our Heart (v2) —
<Original work by BenBRockN. Feel free to reblog, ONLY if you give credit to the original author (me). Thanks!>
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Recently, this video surfaced on Facebook revealing a “gun store” and provided “first-time gun owners” a glimpse into the “histories” of those guns. See here:
The video above is less a social experiment and more of an emotionally-charged scare tactic. The weapons or “guns” as they call them, all have horrible “histories” behind them and the “gun store owner” is extremely passionate about all of the murders and accidental killings involved with all of the “guns” and proceeds to tell all of the “potential first-time gun owners” all about them. Why is this video fake?
- The statistic in the beginning of the video has no sources, and even if it did, it is faulty logic. It said:”Over 60% of Americans think that owning a gun will make their lives safer. In fact, owning a gun increases the risk of homicide, suicide, and unintentional death”.Owning a car also increases the risk of homicide, suicide, and unintentional death. The reason is because both are dangerous objects if not used properly, especially if alcohol or drugs were used before driving.
- If an object can be to blame for people’s actions and retain a criminal history, then why are there not videos like this about knives, cars, swimming pools, baseball bats, and other things used in homicide or suicide? The point could be raised that none of those things “kill” as many people as “guns” do. But even with that point, if you blame one object for mass murder/destruction, then why aren’t all other similar objects to blame as well? According to the CDC’s statistics on abortion (see here: http://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/) in just 2011, 730322 legal abortions took place. That is 730322 lives murdered in 2011, at the “fault” of surgical instruments. There is no video posted online about the histories of surgical instruments in gruesome detail.
A comment that has since been deleted said: Guns are “murder machines”.
Knowing that murder is an evil act where a person intentionally takes the life of another (whereas killing is a lesser act, and usually has some justifiable reason such as in defense of self or others, or for hunting for food), this can lead to one of two meanings:
- Guns are Evil
or - Guns have the capacity to be used for Evil purposes
(1) cannot be true because firearms are not sentient beings. They have no understanding of “good” or “evil”. Firearms are tools used by humans. Humans, on the other hand, are sentient beings and have the mental capacity to do “good” or “evil” deeds. A human with a gun can use it constructively (such as defense of self or others against evil actions of another or wild animals, or for hunting for food) or they can use it destructively (such as murder of any life, human or animal). Therefore, firearms (or “guns”) cannot be Evil, but the user behind it can be evil or commit evil actions.
(2) can be true, but it is based on fuzzy logic. Can anything else in this world (inanimate objects) have the capacity to be used for Evil purposes? Yes, many things can, so this logic is flawed. An ordinary kitchen knife has been used in countless murders not only in America but globally as well. A kitchen knife’s purpose is a tool used in the kitchen to aid in preparation of food (constructive). Since it is sharp, it can also be used as a stabbing weapon (destructive). A MagLight flashlight is a very sturdy flashlight (constructive) but can be used as a bludgeoning weapon (destructive). A baseball bat has the purpose of hitting baseballs in the self-titled sport (constructive). A baseball bat can also be used as a bludgeoning weapon (destructive). The same can be said for a multitude of other inanimate objects.
The logic that Guns are “murder machines” is flawed in both examples. Some might say “But guns are used for the purpose of murder!”. One of the purposes of a firearm is to defend oneself or others, which can lead to death. But firearms are merely tools used by humans. You would not consider police and military members Evil just because they train on and use firearms. But for some reason, law-abiding citizens are considered crazy and dangerous if they own firearms (as portrayed by the video). Either ALL firearm owners/users are Evil or they are considered humans using tools to do their job (defense of self or others) and may either use them constructively (“good”) or destructively (“evil”). If ALL firearm owners/users are Evil because weapons have the capacity to do Evil, then all inanimate objects used in murders since the dawn of mankind, are also Evil since they had the capacity to do Evil and Evil was committed. So this list would be incredibly long and contain sticks, stones, bricks, logs, kitchen knives, sports equipment, pens, flashlights, firearms, etc… and ALL of them should be considered Evil and banned, but this is not the case, only “guns” are considered Evil (or have the ability to commit Evil acts) and have policies to ban them.
Not only that, but banning things that are considered evil do not deter people with evil intentions. The prohibition did not stop alcohol manufacturing or sales, the “War on Drugs” did not stop the manufacturing or sale of illegal drugs, and “Gun-Free Zones” do not stop humans with evil intentions from committing crimes. What did all three of these “banning solutions” accomplish? They stopped law-abiding citizens from using their freedoms, and the third ban caused many lives to be destroyed. The prohibition stopped law-abiding citizens from enjoying their alcoholic beverages, even though they did nothing wrong. The “War on Drugs” stopped law-abiding citizens from using medical marijuana to aid in their medical conditions, even though they did nothing wrong. The “Gun-Free Zones” stopped law-abiding citizens from protecting themselves and others against humans with evil intentions, even though they did nothing wrong. Not only that, “Gun-Free Zones” fostered an area that was ripe for destruction because it punished good-guys-with-guns, and freely allowed bad-guys-with-guns to do as they please. Without the good-guys-with-guns around, the bad-guys-with-guns saw the opportunity to commit evil acts. It is the same way in the animal kingdom. When bats are around (good guys), mosquito populations (bad guys) dwindle, since the mosquitoes cannot fight back. But when bats are threatened by the environment or human interaction, the mosquito population rises because the bats (good guys) are not there to stop them. It is a simple balance of power.
Not only that, but the entire premise of the video is misleading. Let’s make a fake gun shop, to tell fake histories of firearms, to make an emotional (and illogical) connection that guns are bad because humans used them in a bad way in the past. Let’s do the same thing with an antique shop!
The store owner shows a woman a candlestick and then tells how it was used to violently kill Colonel Mustard. The store owner shows a man a butcher knife and tells him that it was the same one used by a horrific serial killer in 19 of his murders. The store owner then shows a woman an old bow and arrow set and exclaims that a native American child accidentally stumbled upon it because his parents didn’t lock it up in a bow and arrow case, and that the child used it to kill his brother on accident. All of these fabricated stories are emotionally charged and could easily be told with any inanimate object. It is illogical and asinine.
If police officers and military members are not seen as Evil, but forces necessary to protect the “good”, then law-abiding citizens with sufficient training should be given the same opportunity and right.
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Since this is a blog about the Gospel, how does this current event relate to the Gospel?
This is Jesus’ words to the apostles when He was leaving them, and told them to protect themselves when He was away:
“Then He said to them, “But now, he who has a money bag, let him take it, and likewise a knapsack; and he who has no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one.” – Luke 22:36
Not only that, but we have two verses where a centurion (a roman solider) went to Jesus and John the Baptizer to ask something of them, and neither one told them to stop protecting innocent lives or to stop using weapons or to stop being soldiers: Matthew 8:5-13, Luke 3:12-14. They told them to have faith, not to intimidate anyone, and be content with their wages.
The last evidence that weapons are not evil and should be used to defend oneself or others, is found in Revelation 19:11-16, when Jesus comes riding back to earth on a horse with a sword in His hands and His angel army ready to fight Satan.
If guns are evil, then swords, spears, slings, and bow & arrows are also evil, which means that most of the Old Testament humans like King David are also evil, and the armies God commanded to defend Israel or to attack other neighboring countries are also evil, and lastly that would imply Jesus is evil because He will be coming back with a sword to defeat the King of Evil Satan — Which makes absolutely no sense, especially since Jesus said that evil cannot do good and good cannot do evil (Matthew 7:17-18), one person cannot serve two masters, both God and Corrupted things (Luke 16:13), and that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).
The idea that inanimate objects are “bad” or “evil”, such as firearms, is completely illogical just like the video above.
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Last but not least, some words of wisdom:
“Evil triumphs when good men do nothing” – paraphrased, Edmund Burke
I’m reading over John 8, and God has really helped me understand the nature of Jesus by thinking and reading it in terms of Jesus as being a loving Father and humankind as children. We see in John 8 that the kids throw a woman down saying “Punish her” trying to use the dad’s (Jesus’s) words against Him, but Jesus reveals their hearts to them and they all walk away convicted.
Some others question who He is, and He lovingly, patiently tries to explain it to them even though they don’t understand. I bet it was really hard for Him to tell them the Truth: that if they do not believe that they will die in their sins. But He even goes as far to say: When you see Me dying on the cross, and God’s power pour out, then you will understand. He leaves them with hope, and it is said “As He spoke these words, many believed in Him.”
Even those that believed still tried to fight against Him saying “Abraham is our father” and then when Jesus corrected them they changed their answers: “God is our only father!” they shouted back. When Jesus (Dad) tells them the Truth again, they get angry and want to hurt Him, but Jesus leaves.
But why does Jesus leave?? I believe it for two reasons, for one, as He said it was not His time to be given up to the people to die on the cross. But I believe it was for another reason as well. Jesus is God, and God cannot be overcome by anyone. Jesus could have just stood there, took the pain from His kids, and when they realized it was of no use, He could have been on His way. But He didn’t do that. He walked away from them, perhaps (I believe) to not give them over to sin. If He stayed, the anger in their hearts would lead them to sin (hurt and attempt to kill Him), and as a loving Father, He cared too much to do that – to give them opportunity to sin. We should consider this as fathers ourselves.
I recently read an article by Pastor John Piper called Rethinking Santa. You can find it at the link above at desiringGod.
I’ve had a similar train of thought for awhile now and I thought I should put those ideas and a few more into a detailed side-by-side comparison chart:
When you look at the big picture of where your child’s hope and joy resides, do you really want it in something so fragile and unfulfilling as the story of Santa Claus? I’m not saying believing in Santa is sinful –it’s not– but as Paul said in his letter to the Corinthian church: “You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is beneficial.” (1 Corinthians 10:23 NLT)
“If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?” (Luke 11:11). When both are free, why give children mud-pies when you could give them a day at the beach for the rest of their lives?
“If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” (Luke 11:13)
I hope you all enjoyed this post, and it was something to think about.
Merry Christmas!! -Ben
Think of a person in your life that has always been there for you. Maybe a friend, maybe a relative, maybe a stranger for a day.
- A person that, no matter what happens to you and no matter what you do, they are there for you in some way.
- That person who continues to show you love (even if it’s not perfect love).
- The person who chooses to be inconvenienced so that you are taken care of.
- The person who is a reminder that there is still a ray of light in the darkest of times.
- The person who genuinely cares about you and likes you, even when you are not being caring or likeable.
Jesus is greater than that person. People get angry, frustrated, or uncaring, even when they really love you and want to help you. But Jesus is always there, always interceding by prayer between you and the Father, on your behalf.
- Jesus is always there for you, no matter what happens in life, and no matter what you do. You can never run away from Jesus’ love, and there’s no distance too far that you can run where He can’t humbly, lovingly, and compassionately enter into your struggle and lift you up.
- Jesus continually loves you and shows you love, and His is Perfect Love – no one deserves His love, but He gives it freely, even to those who believe that they are unlovable.
- Jesus is never inconvenienced to be with you by your side. His love is so great, so deep, and so wide that He willingly gave up His human life on a bloody, wooden cross, so that He could reach down and save you – the lost children of God.
- Jesus is always that ray of light in the dark. No matter how dark life may be for you, Jesus’ love always pierces through it, and the darkness is unable to thwart it.
- Jesus genuinely cares about you, and likes you, and loves you – so much so, that He endured suffering beyond that which we can imagine, all on the cross to save us, the undeserved ones, the lost, the rebellious, the sinners, the unloved, the orphans, the losers, the failures, the hated and the haters. What we lack in this life, Christ has all made up for. Where we are weak, Christ through His death and resurrection has made us strong. However far we have fallen, Christ has risen and gathered us with Him, reaching all the way to Heaven.
There is power in the name of Jesus!
You are not so lost or so far gone that Jesus, the Chosen Son of God, cannot save you!!
You are not doomed to live in the shadows of this world!!
Wherever you are in your life right now, Jesus not only has the power to take you out of it, but is willing to do so!!
The only thing that is required, is to run to Him. Be real with Jesus! Come to Him, and tell Him where you are in life and that you cannot continue to do it alone!! Let out your feelings, and voice your frustrations, and ask Him – ask Jesus to come into your life and save you!! With all your heart and soul, pour out your life to Him!! He is always listening, and like a Good Father whose child has run away, He deeply wants you to come back into His loving arms.
No matter where you are, no matter what you’ve done, you are never far from Jesus’ love.
After you have talked with Jesus, here is some more information to help you out:
–> An Amazing God, and an amazing testimony
–> Prayer in the midst of struggle
–> A Breakdown of the Christian Faith
<Original work by BenBRockN. Feel free to reblog, ONLY if you give credit to the original author (me). Thanks!>
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