Archive for the ‘Freedom’ Category
March 13th, 2010 | 
Author: The Apostle Paul wrote, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Those words ring true not only for religious freedom (the object of the comment above) but also for freedom in general. God made man a free being. He designed us for freedom and gave us the ability to think and reason and choose. This is not an easy life to live – but it is the one for which He designed us. In fact, the very freedom and the ability to choose present problems to many people who can not understand that if we have no choice but to do good that our obedience is empty and hollow, mechanical in nature rather than stemming from a heart that is desirous of pleasing one’s Creator.
The other evening we were discussing the problem of sin and evil with a new Christian. Read the rest of this entry »
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I’ve read this before, but it arrived in my e-mail inbox yesterday and I got that round tuit to read it again today.
The Cycle of Democracy follows this sequence:
- From bondage to spiritual faith;
- From spiritual faith to great courage;
- From courage to liberty (rule of law);
- From liberty to abundance;
- From abundance to complacency;
- From complacency to apathy;
- From apathy to dependence;
- From dependence back into bondage (rule of men).
(Attributed to Frasier Tytler)
It reminds me of the story of the little boy who asked his mother, “Mommy, is it true that God made Adam from the dust of the earth?” Read the rest of this entry »
And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” – Mark 7:18-23
For millennia people have sought ways to be ceremonially pure. Their conscience has burned and caused distress because they know that they do not match up with the Divine ideal. God, through The Law of Moses, helped them to search out this tendency – and find that mankind is incapable of attaining purity by elimination of externals. The Lord spoke to His people and told them that He was fed up with their ceremonies and celebrations and fasts – that He wanted a people who sought after justice and mercy rather than being obsesses with sacrifices.
The key to all this? Man is not defiled by that which he eats or drinks, he is defiled by that which comes out from within him. When his thoughts lead him to do that which is against God’s nature – that is what defiles him. Even today people search ways to eliminate externals. “If there is no opportunity to sin there will be no sin” is the rationale. But sin does not come from opportunity, it comes from desire.
Have you ever thought to yourself what the consequences of your beliefs would be – if you REALLY lived them out? I’m talking about what you claim to believe, not what you show you believe by your actions. What would really happen if you lived out your truth claims to the fullest? Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve been a member and a moderator of Paco Kelly’s leverguns.com forum since it was started several years ago. It’s a great place to hang out when time allows and is populated by some of the finest folks on the internet.
Recently a fellow started posting there. He goes by the name Charlie and builds guns for a hobby. Now, a lot of folks do that anymore. They’ll order up a bunch of parts from Brownells or Midway or one of a number of other places and put them together. Some of the guns so produced are fairly easy to do. Put everything in the right place and PRESTO! You’ve got a functional firearm. Others are more demanding, requiring some filing or stoning of parts to get them to fit and function properly. But all these have one thing in common – they rely on mass produced factory parts. Not that I’m trying to take anything away from the folks who build a gun this way, not at all. I’m in the process of building up a Kentucky rifle from a poorly built kit that was given to me a couple years back. It takes time and effort to get it right. Read the rest of this entry »
A while back I did a quick blurb called “When Guns Are Outlawed“. Well, since then I also read about a new knife for sale in the UK that is “stab proof”. Haven’t seen any pics yet, but I suspect it will have something like a large flat thing welded or forged on the tip. As shown by the pics in the article above, such measures will never defeat anyone who wants a weapon capable of stabbing someone. Read the rest of this entry »
They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction. I wrote for them the many things of my law, but they regarded them as something alien. Hosea 8:4,12
As I was reading through Hosea recently, I came upon the verses above. To say that they gave me food for thought is an understatement indeed. The traditional way of thinking in our nation is that if we have a governor, president, congressman, senator or other public figure that it’s “God’s fault”. After all, He is the One Who sets up kings and rulers, is He not? Interestingly enough, at the time the words above were written, kings normally received their kingship by inheritance – there was little chance for public opinion to be expressed under normal circumstances. And yet, although there was no “democratic process” such as we enjoy in modern times, they DID choose men to rule over them – and men who were not according to God’s plan or design. Today we are ruled by a constitution. Within that constitution the means of selecting rulers is spelled out clearly and the responsibility and power of government is both spelled out and limited. How much more responsible are we today for the rulers we choose than those who lived thousands of years ago! Read the rest of this entry »
Pornography, porn, dirty pictures, “art”, nasty movies, “eroticism”, freedom of expression… what is it all about? What is, after all, this thing called “pornography”?
The word “pornography” is derived from the greek language. The etymology is as follows:
- Greek pornographos, adjective, writing about prostitutes, from porné - prostitute + graphein – to write
But, what does that mean for us today? And why am I writing about this topic? Today the term “pornography” relates not just to “writing about prostitutes” but also to pictures and videos of women who’ve no more morals than a prostitute. And this “industry” is having a negative influence on our society. Read the rest of this entry »
“With hearts fortified with these animating reflections, we most solemnly, before God and the world, declare, that, exerting the utmost energy of those powers, which our beneficent Creator hath graciously bestowed upon us, the arms we have compelled by our enemies to assume, we will, in defiance of every hazard, with unabating firmness and perseverance employ for the preservation of our liberties; being with one mind resolved to die freemen rather than to live as slaves.” –John Dickinson and Thomas Jefferson, Declaration of the Cause and Necessity of Taking up Arms, 1775
The period leading up to the American Revolution was a turbulent time. Men had been giving much thought to the issue of what it meant to be subjects of a power that was interested only in maintaining itself and not with their well being. Slowly, but surely, the movement to break ties with “Mother England” took shape and gained ground until there came a point of no return. But once that point was reached freedom was not yet ensured. First there was a long period of harsh battles, of labor, sweat, tears, danger and the terrible possibility of being once more forced to bow to a foreign power. Read the rest of this entry »