I am posting this from a conversation with a man on another post - this is my response to him, but containing things for all of us to think about: In taking for granted that you do not intend any disrespect toward me, I will respond to your comments not intending any disrespect toward you. First of all, I posted this in view of contrasting and clashing values. You say you vote for the best one for the job. That is a value statement. You have values you base that on, and those values are in contrast to and clash with mine if they are not derived from a God-centered, Biblical worldview. I expect you to vote in accordance with the values you hold to. On the other hand, I believe that God expects Christians to vote in accordance to the values they claim to hold to, and not compromise their convictions for popularity or expediency. That was the point of my post. Secondly, what you say about the privatization of religion is unrealistic and foolish. If I were to take what you say all the way out to its logical conclusion in practical application, I would not give a rip about whether I disrespect you or not - or lie to you or not - or steal from you or not - or kill you or not. It is my religious dogma that directly affects who I am and governs who I am to you, because I believe in an ultimate Source of goodness and love Who expects me to extend His goodness and love to you. He expresses that this way: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Mark 12:31) He holds me accountable to do this for you and everyone else. You can offer no such assurance to me or anyone else, because there is no basis for such values or value of anyones life in a naturalistic, God-less worldview, such as you hold to if you are an atheist. Think about it - any morals you have, you have them in spite of your atheism, not because of it, because without a moral Lawgiver, there is no moral law - without a moral Standard-bearer, there is no moral standard. If you can trace us back to a puddle of organic ooze, then the ethics of ooze is all we are obligated to follow, and ooze has no ethics. You say my religion is dangerous - I say your irreligion is dangerous, precisely because of this. And that is what history really shows. By far, the bloodiest hands are on atheistic regimes, such as Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini, who truly lived up to their naturalistic, God-less values. Have there been radical, murderous religious groups? There is no denying that there have been and still are, but they did what they did and do what they do in spite of what God wants, not because of it. And that leads to my next point. It is not right for you to clump true Christians together with radical quacks. When I say true Christians, I mean those that truly follow the essential teachings and example of Jesus, in a real relationship with Him. You should not define us by anyone that does not pass that test. I know you are in the oilfield, and I take it for granted that you work hard and do a good job. Well, having been in the oilfield a long time myself, I have been around some despicable characters - poor excuses for men. Im sure you would not think it fair for someone to look at guys like those to judge guys like us, telling us that since we are in the oilfield, we must be guys like those. I am a Christian leader, and I am not a Jim Jones. I am a witness for God, advancing His name and His kingdom in the Gospel of Christ, and I am not an Osama Bin Laden. I will close with this: 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. 17 For in it God’s righteousness is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith. 18 For God’s wrath is revealed from heaven against all godlessness and unrighteousness of people who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth, 19 since what can be known about God is evident among them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For His invisible attributes, that is, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen since the creation of the world, being understood through what He has made. As a result, people are without excuse. 21 For though they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God or show gratitude. Instead, their thinking became nonsense, and their senseless minds were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools... (Romans 1:16–22 HCSB) I appeal to you - dont stay among them. Come to the God Who made you and the Savior Who died for you. He is there, and He loves you. You can know Him and live forever with Him. 24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 “Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. 30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, 31 because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. (Acts 17:24–31 NASB)
Posted on: Tue, 04 Nov 2014 20:03:53 +0000
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