Is Your Faith Strong Enough for Ridicule?

   At the National Prayer Breakfast a few months ago Dr Ben Carson, a renowned pediatric neurosurgeon said that “PC is Dangerous”; he went on to say ““In this country, one of the founding principles was freedom of thought and freedom of expression. (Political correctness) puts a muzzle on people. We have imposed upon people restrictions on what they can say, on what they can think. And the media is the largest proponent of this, crucifying people who say things really quite innocently.”

   Standing up for one’s faith, for the Truth of the Bible is now under attack as being hateful, unfounded and bigotry.  Yes some, like Westboro church, have stepped over the line into hateful, unfounded and un-Christian rhetoric. But that does not mean proclaiming the Truth of God should be silenced!  In fact it is more important now to proclaim Christ as King and His Truth is the Only Truth than any other time in history.

   Will we be ridiculed for it? Yes, we may even be accused of all sorts of things in our future.  But look back t o Daniel who refused to compromise in the face of similar attacks.  God held him up and he will hold us up as well. 

The following is a letter found among the personal effects of a martyred Christian in Africa:

   “I am part of the Fellowship of the Unashamed. I have the Holy Spirit’s power. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won’t look up, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I am finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, chintzy giving, and dwarfed goals.
   I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by presence, learn by faith, love by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power. My pace is set, my gait is fact, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions few, my guide reliable, and my mission clear.
   I cannot be bought, compromised, deterred, lured away, turned back, diluted, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate and the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won’t give up, back up, let up, or shut up until I’ve preached up, prayed up, stored up and stayed up the cause of Christ.
   I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I must go until Heaven returns, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He comes to get His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My colors will be clear.”

    This man knew he could be killed for his faith.  Daniel knew that he was in danger for his convictions.  What have we got to lose in our stance?  Being called narrow minded or a bigot? Perhaps we may lose some friends.  But if we fail in our faith, how will it feel that day when we come face to face with God?

Holy Week

   We are at a critical point in the history of mankind, a crossroads of faith and culture.  And it is never more apparent than during Holy Week, the time between Palm Sunday and Easter.  Easter, just like Christmas, is being lost to an unbelieving world.  Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are taking over and Christ is being pushed out.  Why? Faith! Or the loss of it.  We still claim to being a Christian Nation, but one that accepts the diversity of all cultures and religions.  The truth is we are becoming a faithless nation that has been distorted by the acceptable practice of calling belief intolerance. Diversity and acceptance in America did not involve the reduction of the Christian faith, yet here we are.  And Holy Week was God’s forecast of what is happening today.

   Throughout Christian history this week has been known as Holy Week, a week designed to focus our attention on the “passion,” or suffering, of Christ.  The story of Christ is the story of God Himself coming to earth in the form of a human being, a man named Jesus, living the perfect, sinless life and then willingly going to the cross in order to die for the sins of the world.  Not a story of the Easter bunny or egg hunts on the lawn.

   There are five days in this week that are set apart:  It begins with Palm Sunday, and then includes Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and then Easter Sunday.

   Palm Sunday – the Triumphant Entry.  The day that Jesus Christ is declared King.  All the people of Jerusalem welcomed Him in with cheers and palm branches to form a path to walk on.  We once proclaimed Christ as King also.  He was welcomed into our homes as well as our public places and schools and government buildings.  No one was ashamed to do so and everyone was sure even in the face of unbelievers.

   Maundy Thursday denotes when Jesus washed the disciples’ feet during what is known as the Last Supper on the night He was betrayed. The word “Maundy” is built off of the Latin word for “command”; when Jesus washed their feet, He said, “A new commandment I give you – love one another as I have loved you.”   Jesus humbled Himself to us as He still does.  He has left this world to our faith in Him.  Yet, just like the faith of Peter, we too will deny Him when the challenges come.  And as far as loving one another, we have a hard enough time loving other Christians let alone unbelievers. 

   Good Friday is the day we mark the anniversary of when Jesus was crucified.  What Jesus did for us, what His death accomplished on our behalf – that was good. Good because He took on our sins, and then hung in our place, paying the price for our sins so that we could be forgiven.    Anyone that is a Born Again Believer has accepted this “Good” from Jesus.  He did this for all, anyone who accepts the free gift receives His unconditional pardon.

   Holy Saturday, the day before Easter Sunday, marks the time of Jesus in the tomb. The time Jesus spent in Hell for us, for punishment of our sins.  Sins that we commit of our own free submission to our flesh.  Sins that we continue to commit daily because we are of the flesh but also sins that are becoming called acceptable to our society.  Every sin we allow to become the American standard, every time God is removed from our society; it is like Jesus is back in Hell again because we are saying what he did for us already wasn’t enough……

   And then, of course, comes Easter Sunday when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. A day that so altered human history that we are still talking of it, and marking it, over 2,000 years later.  But how much significance has it lost to the world?  When this one instance of ultimate sacrifice has not been forgotten but is celebrated by millions who do not even believe, understand, know or even those that ridicule true believers. 

   Think again about the people over that one week in history.  They went from celebrating Christ as Lord to tossing Him out as a criminal.  Now think about the history of our nation, Jesus was once King and now He is on the verge – once again – of being called a criminal.  A criminal for the Truth He brings to our world, a criminal for being the only way to salvation.  And just like Peter, many believers are denying Him in these waning days.

   I am reminded of an essay I once had to write in High School, the assignment was title – “The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same”.  The Good News is – Jesus will return just like on the first Easter Sunday.  But this time He will come, not as a humble King, but as a powerful King to make His final declaration for His Kingdom.  And there will be no more doubt, no more lost or weak faith, but also more second chance…………

Liberty

   This week my family and I watched a little known documentary called “Monumental”.  In this film Kirk Cameron goes on a journey to discover why America is in a downward spiral and how we can go about stopping it.  He speaks out about not being the Christian who accepts that “bad times are coming, but that means Jesus is closer”.  He wants to stop the bad times and restore America to it greatness so our children and our grandchildren can have a life here on earth as well.

   It is a great documentary in my opinion that received much criticism, was kept out of most theaters and probably done so by liberals who are afraid to be governed by the one true leader we have – God.  Afraid to live according to the virtues that He instilled in us and in which our country’s liberties, laws, justice and freedom were founded. 

   It is Not about forcing everyone in America to be Christians but about using the true laws of life, of humanity, and of God to ensure that all are given morally sound and ethically based freedoms in which to live and to allow others to live. 

   What is destroying our freedoms? The very opposite of the purpose in which our forefathers sought out this land, the freedom to worship God freely and to govern its people justly – yes, using God’s laws! Because they work!! 

   Atheists who cry out that religious freedom means no religion are so far off base it amazes me that they are being allowed a leg to stand on.  People out there crying out for freedom of religion are twisting it into freedom from religion and thus cut the strings that keep us morally straight. 

   Are atheists immoral?  NO, they whether they believe or not, were created in God’s image and therefore do have the ability and the desire for moral living.  But when a movement to remove the moral foundations of our government, when we resort to a standard of “Do what you will, so long as it harms none”.  Then we open the door to an immoral life.  By the way, that standard may sound good to many but it is a direct quote from the wiccan rede – the foundation of that pagan witchcraft sect that is destroying many of our youth by giving them permission to do whatever they want.

 

   There was one part in this film that was very important to me.  A monument that I will bet many of you have never heard of (Some of you New Englanders may have).  It is call “The Monument to our Forefathers”, dedicated in 1889 to the Pilgrims who risked all for freedom, it sits atop a hill in Plymouth Massachusetts; all alone, forgotten, neglected and lost in our history.  It is the “recipe” for our freedoms that this country was founded on.  This recipe has all but been tossed aside in our governing body today, to be replaced by “Do what you will, so long as it harms none”. 

What follows is a description of this great, probably our greatest monument in our country:

 

        The monument stands at 81 feet tall, America’s largest granite monument.  At its centerpiece is “Faith”, with her finger pointing to God and clutching a Bible in her hand.  The Bible worn, to indicate that it is well used and that it was the solid foundation for our liberties.  On “Faith’s” forehead is a star representing the wisdom that only comes from studying God’s Word.  At her feet, counter-clockwise from the east are Morality, Law, Education and Liberty.  The four principles, only obtained from faith in God, upon which this country relies on for freedom and liberty. 

 

    Morality, the internal liberty, the beginning of all freedom.  She sits with no eyes to indicate that she looks within herself for her morality, she checks herself first.  In her hand is the ten commandments upon which the basis for morality and our laws rests.  She must transform, through God and Jesus Christ, into her new moral character. She alone is responsible for her moral behavior, not government telling us what is moral but God changing us to desire moral behavior and standards.  On her right side is a depiction of the evangelist, the Christian’s responsibility to teach God’s moral law to the world, not sit back and let the world go to “hell in a hand basket”.

    Next is Law, in his hand he also holds the Ten Commandments for it is from God’s Law that our law is based.  It is a merciful law and that extends guidance and hope to the world rather than imposes and oppresses us.  When we started removing the Ten Commandments from our court rooms then we have an enabling effect to break the law.  Impose immoral rulings upon our society, stop protecting the innocent and allow for an atmosphere of handouts rather than accountability.  On his side is justice, the scales of equity, punishment fits the crime and mercy, a loving father who holds his child to a standard yet does so lovingly.

 

   Following Law is Education, she holds the Bible and trains her children up in the words, the truth and good of God.  On her side is a picture her training youth, it is the parents responsibility to train our children to ensure the foundation of our liberties are passed on to our next generations rather than allowing government to dictate what is taught and passed on. 

   On her other side is a grandfather, the matriarch who ensures that all is not lost from one generation to the next for, as George Washington so aptly put when morality and religion are not passed on then the country will fall.

 

    Last is Liberty, the culmination of all; based upon faith in God, with a moral foundation, a just and merciful law and all being passed on from one generation to the next; then true Liberty is accomplished.  In opposition to the current thought that Christianity is oppression, he sits with the chains of man’s oppression broken.  He holds a sword in one hand to indicate that liberty must be fought for or it will be lost.  On one side is Liberty beating tyranny and on the other side is peace. The idea that one must be ready to fight and defend liberty but being prepared will bring peace.

 

This monument says a great deal, about how true liberty is found and how it is lost.  We the people, alone, are responsible for ensuring that liberty is not not lost and that our children and our children's children will also experience the liberty that is only found in "One Nation Under God"