I don't pretend to be immune to this phenomenon; and I confess that I even went through it myself a couple years ago (I do think God has brought me past it at this point - but I'll leave that to the reader). This situation has been seen a lot recently within the church due to the advent of the Young, Restless, and Reformed movement. But I think a similar thing is going on in our culture with regard to politics. Perhaps it would be called the Young, Restless, and Libertarian.
I'm not here going on the offensive against the libertarian system. I have many Christian friends with a libertarian viewpoint in regard to politics, and they are not the aim of this post. My aim has to do with those who claim libertarianism while still being in that cage stage where they can hurt themselves and others. A chief case-in-point is an article I came across the other day entitled, 6 Ways Parents Teach Their Children Socialist Values (shared on Facebook a mere 3.5 thousand times). Now I agree that parents often do inadvertently teach their kids socialist values. But the author of this article is not giving a Biblical worldview assessment of that situation nor in the answers he proposes. I don't know if he's a Christian or not (Reformed or otherwise), but regardless I do believe his article needs to be addressed. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.
His lament was for both of them (2 Sam. 1:23): Jonathan, who was like a dear brother to him (2 Sam. 1:26), and also Saul (2 Sam. 1:24), who tried to kill him (1 Sam. 19:1, 20:33). David lamented and was grieved over both of their deaths that occurred as a result of the fallen-world calamity we call war.
People feel pain. The loss of loved ones and even the loss of past enemies can reduce the strongest of men to tears beyond counting. And I say again, this is no small thing. War is not a trivial matter. In the words of one of my good friends: "War is a hellish death machine, an unfortunate consequence of fallen man's condition." We need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins...the judiciary, at this point in the development of man's knowledge, is not in a position to speculate as to the answer.
But first I'm going to make a bold claim and ask you to keep reading.
Here is the claim: If you consider yourself a Christian and "Pro-Choice" in regard to abortion, then either (a) you do not know what the Scriptures teach regarding human life (including the life of the unborn), (b) you do not understand what abortion is, or (c) you are not really a Christian. Bold I know...but please, I urge you to keep reading. Refute the argument if necessary and able. But please keep reading at least to see the argument.
And there is certainly much to be appreciated about seeing solid teamwork being displayed right before your eyes. Everyone contributing their own unique gifts and abilities to oppose and conquer the opposition (these are similar reasons why I enjoy the Marvel Universe films). In reality, it gives a great picture of the church in that everyone in Christ contributes their own spiritual gifts (Eph. 4:15-16), and by so doing are opposing the gates of hell and eventually overcoming them (Mt. 16:18; cf. Eph. 3:20-21).
But times like this, for sports fans (just as times like the one coming soon for me when Avengers: Age of Ultron opens in theatres) provides a good time and venue for a sobering reality check.
This Thursday marks the 42nd anniversary of federally legalized abortion in the United States of America. Since then there have been over 57 million legalized murders of unborn children in this country.
Over 57 million! Can I please inconvenience you, even if just for a few minutes?
However, I have a many concerns regarding this book's true value in unifying the church with fresh and faithful insights into the Word of God.
While the Bible is certainly not a "textbook" on how to vote, I believe it has clear ethical standards that are worthy of our attention when going into the voting booth. Whether you're voting for a candidate or an issue there are always moral implications that go along with how you cast your ballot.
Of course one blog post won't suffice for all the different situations; but I think it's doable and relevant to lay down some practical considerations in the area of levies regarding property taxes. These generally appear on many local election ballots, and I believe the Bible has some clear principles and implications for this that are at least worth considering prior to next Tuesday...
On the other hand, I also believe there were many more moments in her speech, which came through quite clearly, that we would do well to reject - in light of Scripture.
In order to avoid as much misunderstanding as I can, let me clarify what I just said. Firstly, citizens of the United States have a moral duty to bring peace to the Middle East. This does not, by necessity, mean the government (by use of military power) has a moral duty (or even a right) to bring peace to the Middle East (though it could be the case in certain circumstances). Secondly, we have a duty to bring peace to the Middle East. This does not, by necessity, mean our goal is to bring democracy.
So how do citizens of the U.S. bring peace to the Middle East? Book Review: The Establishment and Limits of Civil Government: An Exposition of Romans 13:1-75/27/2014
Written in the mid nineteenth century, the style was noticeably different from modern expositors. It was engaging; but you really have to be paying attention the entire time (i.e. this book is not one of those you can read with a toddler running around being all cute and cuddly and handing you things - you'll need to be in your study, alone).
For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret,
While non-graphic, I still caution you on watching the video because you're in essence witnessing a murder. But I probably suggest you read the article (which has the same message as the video but just goes into more detail of the background), in that this post will basically just be responding to it.
The first question I had after reading the article is how does a Christian respond to something like this? Well I'm sure there are many Biblical ways to respond. For my part, there were two main things that stood out to me, her neglect of the child's perspective, and her misunderstanding of the nature of guilt.
And I assure you, it's not my intent to go around nitpicking at the errors (or perceived errors from my perspective) of other Christians - especially of Christian men who are such wonderful leaders, deserving of our utmost respect (1 Thess. 5:12; Heb. 13:7, 17)!
At the same time though, when they so blatantly - all in one accord - give such a dogmatic answer that is built on such shaky ground, I don't know what else to do than to address it.
When commentating on Romans 2 he advocates his position that the works of the law written on the hearts of the gentiles are simply “principles of righteousness” yet “independent of Mosaic legislation.” He does not prove this at all but simply asserts it. The apostle Paul knew how to say “principles of righteousness;” yet under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he chose to say “works of the law.” In context of the passage and the readership of Romans I don’t know what else Paul could mean other than the Mosaic law. But apparently Zaspel has some insight into this text of which so many others throughout the history of the church are completely unaware.
I'm okay with that though for the intended purposes of this post.(2) My point in all this is not to explain the relationship between those three political sovereigns (or two - again I'm still unclear on the details), but my point is simply to ask, from a Biblical perspective, how should the U.S. be involved?
Should the U.S. impose sanctions against Russia? Should the U.S. send aid to Ukraine? The answers to those questions will, in part, depend on how we define the U.S. Should the U.S. (as in the U.S. government) impose sanctions against Russia? Should the U.S. (as in private American citizens) send aid to Ukraine? Here is where it gets a little more sticky. But regardless of how we're defining the terms and how sticky the situation is, as Christians, we still need to think of it in terms of Christian ethics (that is, in terms of what we ought to do regarding the situation according to God's Word and the Lordship of Christ in our lives). And indeed, we ought to do something... But what is it that we ought to do?
As we'll see, in dealing with Christian ethics (that is, Christian living applied to any area of life), there is much to be said for not only the conclusions you draw, but also the questions you ask - and the assumptions upon which those questions are based.
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