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In God We Trust – In Christians Maybe Not

September 10, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Christians And Diplomacy
Don’t Mix

Becoming a Christian does not make you right.

Saved, yes! Eternally secure, yes!

Opinionated? Unfortunately!

But will you always be right? Not necessarily. Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Christianity is free from error, Christians are not.
God is absolutely free from confusion, believers are always vulnerable.
The Bible is without error but it’s rather arrogant to think you understand it perfectly.
God is all-knowing. Christians must learn everything.

And to do that they must unravel the thread of truth from the tangle of “Christian” voices claiming to know it.

Christians do enjoy many benefits.

A Christian is saved, born again, and Spirit inhabited.
Christians are children of God, have a new perspective, and a relationship with God.
Christians can change for the better but there’s no guarantee. Some go backward.

What is neither promised nor even insinuated is that on the day of salvation you’ll be blessed with instant knowledge of the truth and a well-developed sense of discernment.

Those are things you’ll have to work for. Salvation is instantaneous, learning the truth is a process.

The Starting Point

All Christians start off as babes. New Christians are nowhere yet. The fact that Christians are commanded to learn the truth means they don’t already have it.

Believing in God is not a synonym for knowing all truth or being completely reliable.

Reliability, of course, is a character issue and a topic for another post but it’s important to keep in mind that Christians are NEW creations, not FINAL creations and they will never be finished products in this life.

Perfection comes only in the next life and for good reason. It’s difficult enough being a saved sinner in an imperfect world. Perfect Christians would clash intolerably.

But back to my point. [Read more…] about In God We Trust – In Christians Maybe Not

5 Differences Between Democracy And Christianity

January 15, 2021 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Democracy’s Concept Is Accepted By All
The Definition Is Not

Democracy is one of those words that every American owns. We love it, embrace it, and repeat it ad nasueam but I question whether it is truly understood.

The definition is simple:

Democracy is a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.

On the surface, we get that. The people (you, me, and everyone else) are ultimately in charge but there is a downside. When we say the people are in charge, we are talking about all the people. Not the wealthiest, the smartest, the most attractive, the morally normative, or any other high profile group.

The people refers to all the people and as the culture becomes more diverse so too do the democratically legislated laws. The body of elected officials who legislate laws take into consideration the entire constituency when writing those laws.

Everyone has a say. Every group is represented equally and that is the Christian approach to governance. Democracy is a very comfortable form of government when everyone in the country agrees with you. As differences begin to accumulate and the laws expand accordingly, discomfort rises among the more religiously rigid.

Admittedly, my thoughts about democracy have moderated over the years. I’ve always considered it a Christian concept and it is, but how far can you extrapolate that idea?

Are Christianity and Democracy equal? Is one exactly the same as the other? Is Democracy the word we apply to government so we can make it seem like a religion? I would say no, no, and probably.

There are underlying Christian principles in a democratic form of government but democracy is neither sectarian nor religious. It can’t be because then it ceases to be a government of the people, for the people, by the people. Democracy is Christian but not in the way many Christians think. Democracy gives expression to those aspects of Christian doctrine that most Christians love to ignore.

Jesus taught us to love our neighbors. Not some of our neighbors. Not the neighbors we think are the right class or look like we do or agree with our personal beliefs. We are to love our neighbors period. Even if we consider them enemies, we are to find a way to love them.

Jesus said that too, but it’s not easy to do mostly because it runs contrary to our natural responses. How can we love our neighbors if we don’t allow for their differences, distasteful though they may be?

With a community as large and broad as the USA, you’re bound to find people you disagree with, lifestyles you could never accept personally, and personal choices you aren’t comfortable with. But that is the nature of community.

It’s logical. The larger the community, the more pronounced and widespread the differences. [Read more…] about 5 Differences Between Democracy And Christianity

12 Reasons Belief Beats Politics

October 10, 2020 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Belief Is Easily Possible And Results In Endless Benefits

I’ve been a Christian for decades – more than I care to share – and I’ve spent a lot of time in church services, Bible studies, and general conversations with other Christians. The topics were always related to God, the Bible, theology, Christian living, and the like.

More recently, politics has dominated those conversations and it’s changed the perspective a lot. Now, favored political candidates are as popular as Moses and David. The opposition, of course, is worse than Pharaoh.

Participating in the electoral process is right up there with daily devotions. If you don’t vote you’re backslidden. Even worse, if you vote for the wrong candidate you’ve spurned the will of God. Blasphemous!

When the candidate of choice wins office, it’s the emotional equivalent of crossing the Red Sea!

That line of thinking is problematic. You can’t synthesize government and religion. The purpose of one is totally different to the purpose of the other. The two will never fully mesh.

The church is commissioned to evangelize the world. The government is commissioned to manage it. Neither is commissioned to make it absolutely right. They act separately and for different reasons.

We obey the church not because we have to but because it is supposed to represent the voice of wisdom and reason. Or, that’s the hope. There’s no guarantee. Several churches and church leaders (all denominations) have gone off the deep end (adultery, pedophilia, embezzlement, etc.).

Those that don’t go quite that far can still border on the moronic and we should be careful enough not to follow.

Belief Exercises Reason

No names mentioned but several years ago I came across an individual who was instructed by one of his church’s elders (the prophet) that God wanted him to marry a certain person. The church’s teaching was that elders speak directly from God so he complied.

He married the young lass and after several years of intentional effort, the relationship never gelled. It was then they realized that God had nothing to do with it.

I wasn’t involved in counseling that particular situation.

All of that is to say that obedience should be taken with a grain of salt. Instead of obeying one person or one tradition, we should learn how to ascertain collective wisdom. Speak to many people and gain a broad understanding of the issues.

There is an art or skill to learning how to do that and the discussion could be quite long but there is no space for it in this post.

From a parenting perspective, however, instead of teaching your kids to do what you say, teach them to think about the “whats” and “whys” of their choices before imposing commands. They’ll be better served in the future.

But you’ll need to be ready for the unexpected. They may choose something different to what you planned and you need to be big enough to live with that.

Back to my line of thought. [Read more…] about 12 Reasons Belief Beats Politics

4 Tax Reveal And Campaign Chaos Takeaways

October 3, 2020 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

“This Man Doesn’t Know What He’s Talking About”

It’s been a long and frenetic week for the candidates in this year’s general election. It’s fun for the public but not so much for those running the race. Let’s start with a few tax reveal takeaways.

Trump’s In The Dumps Financially

The New York Times finally opened the door to the Trump financial closet. What they found wasn’t bankruptcy but it could get there soon enough.

What we learn from the revelations is that even though Trump’s lifestyle keeps everyone watching, like reality TV, it’s more fantasy than real.

He flies around in a private jet emblazoned with his name on the side, splashes at all the big dinner events, plays golf at his many personally owned courses, and refuses to take his Presidential stipend but his tank is running on empty. He’s broke and with several hundred million in debt coming due soon and only an estimated $873,000 in stocks and bonds left to sell, it’s about to get worse according to reports by the New York Times.

It’s no wonder he wanted to be President and turn the oval into a spotlight for his family. It provides millions in free advertising for their related businesses. It’s amazing that he does all of this in plain sight and no one sees it as a problem.

With personal loans valued at more than $400 million coming due in the next few years and apparently no ability to pay, his lenders will be in the difficult position of deciding whether or not to foreclose on a sitting President should he win.

Maybe instead of voting for him, you should send a personal donation.

$70,000 In Hair Styling Costs

One of the endearing things about Trump is his hair. How many times has that crown been the focus of comedic fun?

The public loves it. I always thought he knew this and used it to his favor but, whether he likes being poked at or not, it’s become a trend among world leaders. Just have a look at Boris Johnson.

The difference is Boris paid approximately $5000.00 for haircuts (at the very most) during the fifteen years the Apprentice aired while the Don paid $70,000.00. Both get a lot of attention for their hair and their antics. Boris paid a lot less for it. [Read more…] about 4 Tax Reveal And Campaign Chaos Takeaways

5 Reasons Not To Trust Trump

September 25, 2020 by EnnisP Leave a Comment

Salvation Doesn’t Change Your Basic Nature

When people ask why I didn’t vote for Trump, my answer is short and simple. I don’t TRUST him.

That’s a fairly uncommon answer. Many people don’t like Trump but liking him and trusting him are two different things.

Likability is not a primary issue anyway. It is a good quality to have but it doesn’t really qualify anyone as presidential.

Evangelicals started the like/dislike campaign when they claimed he is born again implying, of course, that that made him a good candidate. The problem with that theory is born again doesn’t qualify anyone as presidential either. I know many Christians I wouldn’t vote for.

“Born again” also doesn’t qualify anyone as likable. I’ve listened to many biblically sound messages delivered by people who weren’t that likable. But not to worry, saying someone is unlikable isn’t the same as saying they are bad. If someone is unlikable to you, it only means you and he or she don’t necessarily mesh.

The goal for Christians is to be Christlike but I don’t mean that in the absolute sense, nor should it ever be taken that way. No one is 100% like Jesus. Not you, not me. Not your parents, siblings, or the people at church.

Christlike means you’re different from what you were. Not perfect. Not likable. Just different.

Trump may be different from what he was but, likable or not, his flaws are still quite obvious. Taken together, those flaws raise many questions but none of them alone make him untrustworthy. There is one flaw, however, that I believe makes him unfit for the job. Let me explain. [Read more…] about 5 Reasons Not To Trust Trump

Christians And Diplomacy Don’t Mix