Church And State 1

I am going to make a statement that some will no doubt regard as very controversial.

Never mind.

We all need to be brought face to face with a different reality from time to time, and that is exactly what is happening in the world right now, for those who have the eyes and the wisdom to see it.

The view that the Church “should not be involved in politics” has been around for many years. It is a false doctrine that has emasculated Christ’s ecclesia for decades, and unfortunately we are seeing the results running rampant in the world – centered for now on the American political scene, where the greatest battle of all times (beyond even politics) is being played out before the eyes of the whole world.

And many in the Body Of Christ are busy excusing themselves from any form of engagement in this battle on the principle that the Church should not be involved in such matters.

This false doctrine has brought about a major dumbing down of the Church, and of the traditionally brave American psyche. It has allowed soulless, mindless leftist doctrine to take absolute hold of our Seven Mountains of Influence – media, government, education, economy, family, religion, and arts/entertainment – pretty much without any form of opposition from those who espouse traditional values.

Leftist organizations preach tolerance and equal rights. That is their ideology, aimed at winning votes. But the reality of leftist doctrine is intolerance, bigotry, suppression of all opposition, and the complete entrenchment of ‘The Party’. This is dominance at its worst – just look at any country that has been living for a period of time under any socialist rule: Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea, China. Look at the poverty, death and oppression they inflict on their people. Don’t think it can’t happen to you.  Plans for it to happen are under way right now.

You Will Know Them By Their Fruits

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.”

As always, Jesus cuts through the garbage and comes to the crux of the matter.

He continues, “Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.“ (Matthew 7:15-20)

He was absolutely right. Anyone with half a brain who does their research diligently in this day and age can find  plenty of facts to exemplify this truth. We should be following it and teaching it to all young people, should we not?

BUT…

In addition, we now have an extra problem. The left has taken control of the Seven Mountains – most dangerously the mountains of media and education:

• Mainstream media no longer reports truth, no longer reports even 2 sides of the story – it has become an exclusively left propaganda machine, suppressing all other information.;
• Education has become indoctrination. Young people are being taught to hate everything that America and the free world stands for, and even worse they are NOT being taught to think for themselves. An exclusive propaganda machine in schools and colleges.

(c) 2006 Bonnie Jacobs

One-Eyed Vision

The great danger in all this is a one-sided view of the world.

The first colonists of America came fleeing from British oppression – high taxation, religious persecution. The American Constitution was based on godly principles.  Note I didn’t say ‘religious principles’ – what human religion did over the centuries to the principles laid out by Christ has at times been horrific.   But that fact does not invalidate what He stood for, nor the power of His message to bring healing and peace.

Truth is, we have fallen off the track – on both sides:

• On one hand, we fell into godlessness and prayerlessness – hung up on Marxist/Socialist doctrines or sheer uncaring greed and egotistic self-determination.
• On the other hand we fell into legalism – insistence by certain sectors of the Church that it is the Church’s business to stay out of politics, indulge itself in doctrinal argument, hunker down in its precious Church buildings, and weather the storm in seclusion.  In other words, don’t rock the boat.  Does this not remind you of ‘the Jews’ in Jesus’ day?

Clearly, neither of these options is the answer.

Thank God for His current intervention in the situation, at the invitation of His thousands of praying saints (many of whom, I believe do not belong to established ‘churches’). We need to get back to the real roots on which the mountain of politics was established by God’s grace in the USA – the words of the American Constitution.

I am not advocating ‘control by religion’ – heaven forbid!  I am advocating a fair and free exchange of the ideals of citizens working together under the principles set out in a fair and unbiased legal document, such as the US Constitution.

NOTE:  The concept of ‘separation of powers’ is a purely political concept, by which government is organized into legislative, executive and judicial branches.  It has nothing to do with the position of the church – although it may have contributed to the spurious interpretation of ‘separation of church and state’.

More to follow.

All Of Creation Waits

Man tends to be so anthropocentric that he rarely considers the full outcome of his original sin against God and all the rest of Creation at the outset of human history.

Jesus and I’m sure all of the Apostles were fully aware of it.

At Romans 11:19-22, Paul states it plainly:  “…creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”

The Source Of Bondage

Today’s experts explain away the desperate condition of our planet and all its inhabitants (animal and human) with explanations like ‘global warming’, ‘deforestation’, ‘loss of habitat’, ‘over-fishing’, ‘poaching’ and so on and so on.  These things may be true as immediate causes, but they are only a comfortable way of overlooking and blaming away the root cause of the decay of our beautiful planet.  At the bottom of it all lies depravity, in the form of human greed.

It is the desire for ‘more, more and yet, more’ that lies at the root of all the things that are wasting our world –  from industrial overreach, destructive farming practices, chemical emissions, chemical fertilizers, chemical herbicides and pesticides to wars and waste disposal.  This curse starts with every one of us as individuals (as it began with Eve), and it goes all the way through to today’s mighty nations and corporations, whose impact is so large.

The Hope Of Liberation

After Jesus finished His 40 day fast in the wilderness of Judea, the Devil came to tempt Him – hoping to have the same success with the Son of Man as he had had with the world’s original inhabitants.  He posed 3 temptations –

• bodily pleasure – “Make these stones into bread”;
• egotism  – “Prove yourself by publicly testing God’s ability to save you from death”;
• materialism  – “Bow to me and I will give you all the kingdoms of the world” – and you will not need to die for it.  (Matthew 4:1-11)

All of these tests, Jesus waved aside with direct reference to scripture.  But in the third attack note that Satan offered “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor”, if Jesus would bow down and worship him.    Here, Satan was actually within his rights – and Jesus knew it.  Adam and Eve, by accepting Satan’s offer and going against the word of God right at the beginning, had in fact handed the world over into the Enemy’s hands.

Jesus’ response was again to quote scripture – the passage in Deuteronomy 6:13 where God calls on His people to worship Him alone.  We are indeed forever indebted to our Savior for His strength, wisdom and steadfastness in this crucial encounter.  We cannot doubt that without that, the world would have been brought to an abrupt end.

And so the whole of creation “waits in eager expectation” for mankind to get its act together and complete The Great Commission ordained by Jesus:

“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”  (Matthew 24:14)

The Story Behind The Artwork

This piece is very dear to me:  it is called ‘Murphy’s Garden’.

Murphy was my gardener – and I must say he was a much better gardener than either the Kunekune pigs or the Arapawa/Damara sheep that I have currently. He knew his place, and he didn’t eat things he wasn’t supposed to eat.

As well as keeping the pasture in shape, Murphy used to mow the lawn, and I came home one day with my Mom from shopping (about 2005/6), to be greeted by this scene. Fortunately I had my camera with me.

Gemma the white border collie and a bunch of white ducks in the foreground.   Beloved Staffy cross dog Flynn half hidden by the fence at left, and Murphy himself, centre stage.    Offered for fun and because of its wonderful, magical atmosphere.

Olympus OM1,   c 2005/6.  For more details about the work and products, click on the image.