Liberal Christian Government Identity

Quick question... Should Christians enforce morals and laws on everyone? I say no, but to other Christians.

The thinking I am having is one of why should we be able to dictate how everyone behaves? I don't feel that we have any right to dictate our morals and "standards" of sin on the general public. I do feel that we ought to live by those and go with those in our church but we should not enforce those laws on every non-Christian. We should love them unconditionally and in our efforts of being loving, compassionate, and non-condemning we might in effect showing them the saving power of Christ and the Christian morals.

I think back to the Jews of the old testament, I'm not sure on exactly how their laws were but to me it appears that they followed their religious laws but didn't try to push them on everyone who was not a Jew, I'm not a scholar so please correct me if I am wrong. I just feel we should set and example for people rather then trying to forbid of pass laws to adhere to our moral and religious standards. I am basically saying I agree with the separation of Church and State as it is in France. It is different than here and more neutral but I agree with it. I'm not condoning any sin, just thinking that we shouldn't be distraught over laws and legislation we don't agree with, overcome these with Christ living through you.

Feel free to disagree, just a thought for the day.

The Creation Debate

Anyone who lives in the world today knows of the active debate going between man about how everything that is here came to be. Intelligent design, evolution, intelligent design with the help of evolution, and there are more less popular theories out there. It's one thing to know what you believe and why, it's another to debate those beliefs with others, but it is an entirely different story to try to prove your theory right when you might be putting that effort into saving a soul.

The main point I am trying to make is not one the everyone likes to hear. For a Christian maturing in their faith it is important for them to know what they beleive on the matter and why. But if you are having a conversation with someone who is not saved by Christ and you begin to try and prove why your creation belief is betterthan theirs, we are really saying, "what is more important than your soul is the fact that I'm right." The issue of how the world came to be is an arguement that we should make after we save the soul of those wanting to debate us on it.

It's not bad to talk about this topic at all, my main point is to not turn someone off to the saving power of Christ because a debate about how we are here, instead of why we are here.


-- Post From My iPhone

Innocence leads to Ignorance

"The final result of the book is quite inspiring, but some of the "pictures" presented in the book are a little extreme. The sexual perversions of America are vividly portrayed. For people who have already been exposed to the tremendous sin that is available in this country, this book will doubtlessly be an inspiration. But for those who want to keep their purity and be innocent in relation to the world's evil, I do not recommend this book. I was sorry I read it."

The above text was a review of the book "The President" by Parker Hudson. Christians with the world view in this review lead the world to think we are feebly, better than them, and afraid to socialize with them and befriend them. We need not to be afraid to be with them and reach out with them, do not follow the sins, but love them and not shun them. Christ never walked away from other because of sexual acts or sins, neither should we.

Mr. Mockingbird

I haven't seen the stars, which might be some of my favorite objects ever, it what may very well be 4-5 weeks that I can remember. Everyday seems to be filled with clouds and most likely rain, I don't mind the rain but now it is almost getting ridiculous. Although I can say I have had some wonderful company at night. There is a male mockingbird who has nested in the tree outside my room and sings as I lay in bed; it has been very relaxing. Sadly, tonight I saw the lonely moon with no stars and my friend Mr. Mockingbird appears to have either finally found his mate and quit singing or taken to a different locale. I am ready for some clear skies soon.

Few Thoughts For The Day

Some storms blew up today. As I looked to the sky, some dark, swiftly moving dark clouds cleared my view to see the magnificent cumulus clouds that loomed far above. This reminds me of the way it is with God. Dark times and wrath may bear down and be present, but he is always there during those dark times, watching, in control, even when the dark times return to bring more rain.

The average storm last 2-3 hours (liberally speaking). If one lives to be 75 years old, they will live 657,000 hours. If they experience one storm per week, that is 3,900 storms in their life, they will experience approximately 9,750 hours of storms. 1.48% of a person's life will be experiencing storms, the power of God. Enjoy these wonders, they reveal so much about our Creator. Personally, I hope to experience far more than 9,750 hours.

A Discovery Channel show on Jesus just made the statement that around 2/3 of the world is Christian (that includes all denominations, including Catholic). From my life experience, either this statistic is greatly skewed, or many lips are shut. Either way, change needs to occur.

A Sunny Room with a Southern Exposure

As I was perusing my library of the many books that I should read but as of now have not, I opened up my John Adams book by David McCullough. A quote struck me as very relevant to the economic status of these times we are currently in, and while I can not say for certain when, as it is not dated, this quote appears to have been uttered by John Adams sometime in the 1790's, around 210 years before our current economic state.

"I am so well satisfied with my present simplicity that I am determined never to depart from it." He said this making a vow never again to spend money just to keep up appearances, as times were tight.

I challenge everyone to think about this quote, regardless of the mouth from which it was uttered, it serves a great purpose.


Updated: To further this discussion, as I was reading some works from Albert Einstein, this part of which does not require much interpretation as he is a straight shooter.
1934
"I am absolutely convinced that no wealth in the world can help humanity forward, even in the hands of the most devoted worker in this cause. The example of great and pure individuals is the only thing that can lead us to noble thoughts and deeds. Money only appeals to selfishness and irresistibly invites abuse. Can anyone imagine Moses, Jesus, or Gandhi armed with the money-bags of Carnegie?"

Psychological Delay

I know that I am not a psychologist or an expert by any means, but I think perhaps what I am about to discuss might hold some ground. It relates to Freud's ideas of the unconscious and the id.

I know if you are like me that there have been many times when some one said something or asked me a question and I immediately responded, "What?" even though I knew exactly what they said and could even repeat it to them. Perhaps they would ask something like the following, "Did you see that amazing game last night?" to which I would reply ,"What?" and they would repeat themselves but I could finish their sentence for them. I thought to some extent as to why I would say "what" after some statement or question. I asked my friends if they did the same thing and they agreed that they had, perhaps more or less than I, but they did none the less.

As I ran these thoughts over in my mind today I came to the conclusion, rather a small, more insignificant one, that the response generated by me immediately was not of my conscious or rather ego, but rather my unconscious, or id. The id, not necessarily feeling anxiety, forces the ego to push out the question "what?" in order to give the mind more time to come up with an answer and reaction. It uses this as a defense mechanism to help avoid what it may see as an embarrassment in the stalling period while thinking of a response. To avoid this, the id pushes out "what" to give the mind more time to recall. Going back to the earlier question, one may stall three or four seconds while recalling the game from the night before so they can discuss it. This defense mechanism allows the mind to recall the game the previous night while the person asks the question a second time so as not to seem slow or dim-witted.

While there may not be a solid, scientific proof for this theory rather than my reasoning, I feel that this explanation may explain why the forced "what" pops out without us thinking about it. I welcome and suggestions, comments, and/or criticisms.