Silence of the Sheep

THOSE who recognize His voice and follow Him, are His sheep [Christians] and He is their Shepherd [Christ Jesus]. Jesus has promised, that upon His return, He will separate His sheep from the goats [clarification not needed], and place the sheep at His right hand. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus knows His sheep and they know Him. Jesus is the Gate through which His sheep shall pass into the Kingdom of eternal life (John 10:7).

As you look around and contemplate the present state of our country’s evolved temporal culture, with its conspicuous inveiglements, base and authoritarian media, progressive social engineers, and proclamations of humanistic consciousness, are you angry and frustrated? Of course, you are! So, what are you doing about it? Are you offering the alternative- God’s “Truth” to those who engage in dismantling the source of your principles and foundation of belief? Or, is just wringing your hands and whining, an effective source of comfort to you?

As a follower of Christ Jesus, you understand and accept the canon of “Good and Evil.” You know the attributes and consequences of both. Yet, you may be practicing crypto-Christianity – too concerned with what others may make of you, should you emerge from the cloakroom. The 18th Century, English Philosopher, Edmond Burke rightly declared, “The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” Jesus instructed His disciples to go into all nations and make new disciples, and baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:19). The Apostle Paul wrote to the believers in Rome to hate what is wrong and stand on the side of good (Rom. 12:9).

Evil has a way of slowly seeping into our contemporary social mores. Many are often fooled by the “World’s” insidious offerings. The slogans and propositions generally sound inviting, e.g., “Be tolerant;” “equal pay for equal work;” “protect your civil liberties;” “god is in us;” "we are a religious organization;" “happy holidays;” “we need to understand our enemies’ perspectives;” “a woman’s right to choose;” “no fault divorce;” “don’t eliminate marriage for anyone;” “separation of church and state;” “improve your self-esteem;” “do what feels good;” and, “save our planet.” You get the idea! However, for those who wear the armor of God, He grants wisdom and discernment. He shows how to distinguish right from wrong and how to separate from those with intentions of doing evil (Prov. 2:7-15).

As brothers and sisters of the same “Flock,” we must confront evil wherever we find it; “silence” is not an option! This country, which was founded on Judeo-Christian principles, is being absorbed into the “One-World” secular vision. While we await the return of our Lord and Savior, we must not allow One-Worldism to advance on our watch. It is our mandate from God to stand up, fight the good fight, and spread the Word of His Truth, Glory and Salvation (I Timothy 6:7-12).

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE MINT JELLY!!!

Your heads are being served to you on a silver platter.

Too many of Christ’s sheep are “silent”. The flock is systematically getting slaughtered by academia, the media, P.C. do-gooders, Federal and State government agencies (most notably the Courts) and, lest we forget, the religion of Islam.

As our mute, but amiable flock members bask in the forth-dimension of blissful denial, Christians throughout this country are disallowed their right to worship Jesus as they please. Their children are indoctrinated in school and through the media outlets with concepts of lifestyles, which run counter to Christian tenets. Still other Christians are ridiculed and persecuted for expressing their faith in the workplace – especially in government run entities, where the concept, “Wall of separation between church and state,” which provides for the “Free exercise” of religion and prohibition of a State sponsored or endorsed religion (as stated in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution), has been recently misinterpreted by the U.S. Supreme Court, to imply that anything, which could be considered “Religious, must be kept out of government owned and operated institutions. This postmodern vision has since been misapplied through a broad and specious notion; currently know as the “Separation of Church and State.” Accordingly, your right to freely practice Christianity in the United States has been withdrawn by the American Courts!?! This is a disgrace, allowed by the "Silence of the Sheep.”

TOLERANCE

When you hear the words, “Be tolerant,” clearly UNDERSTAND the true motive of this admonishment! [It] is simply code for, “accept all of the ‘World’s’ largesse and perversions.” It is most often used in the effort to foster the social reception of homosexuality and same-sex marriage. If you think about it, the word TOLERATE is a pejorative verb. How many of you wish to be tolerated? Not I! "The New Webster Encyclopedic Dictionary of the English Language" defines “Tolerable” as, Capable of being borne or endured; supportable, either physically or mentally; sufferable; moderately good or agreeable; not contemptible; passable; mediocre. The Bible does not teach tolerance, as some would have us believe. The secularists want to use this insidious word against Christians, as though Christians own it; while [they], (the secularists), with greater compassion for the individual than that of the Christian, are merely taking the high road and borrowing it.  What these secular progressives actually seek from Christians is [COMPLIANCE] to secular perspectives.  I hear secularists and other uninformed persons say frequently, “Doesn’t the Bible teach tolerance, you hypocrite?” As a matter of fact, I have heard Ministers interchange the words love and tolerance. They have pointed to Eph. 4:2 as a call for tolerance but seem to misunderstand that the catalyst of forgiveness, by which one makes allowances for others’ behavioral transgressions, is love, not tolerance itself. Tolerance of others offers no commitment to the individual, as does love.  However, contemporary reference to [tolerance] encompasses both the individual and the behavior, while love focuses solely on the individual.  In scripture, tolerance does not translate into acceptance.  Jesus was surely not a “Tolerator.”  He did not say to Mary Magdalene, after rescuing her from a death of stoning, “Go, and I will tolerate your future acts of adultery;” He did not tolerate the money changers in His Father’s house; nor, did he define the second most important commandment as, “Tolerate your neighbor…”  Clearly, if Jesus was to tolerate mans' behavior in the world, there would have been no point to His dying on the cross.

As Christians, we need to extract from our lexicon, the word “Tolerance” and all of its derivations, except to expose its etymology and animus, which forwards the secular agenda. To not do so, may imply to others a lack of knowledge and spiritual discernment in how the word is being applied in today’s cultural war.

"RELIGIOUS"

"The Harper Contemporary Lexicon of Progressive delusive Words," defines ”Religious” as: religious, ri•lij’us, a. [L. religiosus.] A psychic state and practice of faith and devotion, as with those who mystically practice the religion of Evolution or Darwinism; a feeling of reverence possessed by those for a Supreme Being, e.g., Jedi warriors’ worship of the “Force.” – n. A religieux or religieuse.

Christians should not portray themselves, or other followers of Jesus Christ, as prescribed by the sole inspired written Word of God [The Holy Bible], exclusively as “Religious.” There are far too many categories of “religious” practice, some of which include, Superstition, Metaphysics, Cosmology, Mysticism, Esotericism and, the all-inclusive Hollywoodism.

When someone describes himself, or others, as “religious,” you should be very confused!

PROPOSITION 8 - Call to Action

Many of you are aware that California’s Proposition 8, which passed on November 4, 2008, has amended the California Constitution to eliminate the recently recognized fundamental right of same-sex marriage. Accordingly, the California Constitution will soon define marriage, as between a Man and a Woman. We should thank God, on this issue, for a return to traditional, Biblical values. However, this is no time to rest on the success of this monumental achievement. The ACLU and Equality California organizations have just filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the decision of California voters. Further, California’s Attorney General, Jerry Brown said in a court filing that he believes the ballot measure would not invalidate existing same-sex marriages. He told the "San Francisco Chronicle," “I believe that marriages that have been entered into subsequent to the (May 15) Supreme Court opinion will be recognized by the California Supreme Court.” He went on to note, “Proposition 8 is silent about retroactivity.” He further stated, “I would think the court, in looking at the underlying equities, would most probably conclude that upholding the marriages performed in that interval (before the election) would be a just result.” Attorney General Brown’s position is significant, as his office will represent the state in lawsuits over Proposition 8’s validity and interpretation.

In reference to the retroactive protection, or the “Grandfathering” in, of same-sex marriages performed in California after May 15, 2008 and prior to November 4, 2008, a legal expert in California, today compared that notion to abolishing slavery, but allowing those who owned slaves prior, to keep them! Do not let the “Hot Button” topic of slavery dissuade you from the pure logic of his argument. It is our duty to uphold Christian values in our society. We must not be “TOLERANT” of behavior, which is contrary to Christ’s teachings.

Please take a moment to write Attorney General Brown to express your position on same-sex marriage. Demand that he uphold the voice and the will of the California voters. After all, that is his duty!

He may be reached at: Attorney General Jerry Brown, Attorney General's Office, California Department of Justice, P.O. Box 944255, Sacramento, CA 94244-2550.

YOU BETTER BE GOOD! IT'S THE SEASON

How do you know what it is to be good?

As a philosophical discipline, ethics and morals are concerned with human conduct and how they are applied by judgments of what is right or wrong, good or bad.  How to behave to the benefit of self or toward one’s fellow man, is a matter of making choices - to be friendly or unfriendly; to tell the truth or lie; to be generous or greedy. 

Ethics and morality are words often interchanged and essentially provide the same meaning for most individuals.  Ethics is derived from the Greek ethos, meaning “Character,” and morals from the Latin mores, meaning “Custom.” 

Federal and state laws and public justice are closely related to ethics, in that they determine and enforce definite rights and duties.  They also attempt to repress and punish deviations from these standards.  Most societies have set standards, whether by custom or by law, to enable those in a society to live together without undue disruption.  It is possible for law to be neutral in moral issues, or it can be used to enforce elements of morality.  The prologue to the United States Constitution says that insuring domestic tranquility is an object of government.  This statement is morally neutral.  Such laws as those passed to prevent the taking of a life by others, however, promote a moral, as well as legal commitment.

Ethics, as a branch of philosophy, is considered a normative science, because it is concerned with norms of human conduct, as distinguished from the formal sciences, such as mathematics and logic, and the empirical sciences, such as chemistry and physics.  The empirical social sciences, however, including psychology, impinge on the concerns of ethics in that they study and promote social behavior.  For example, the social sciences frequently attempt to determine and influence the relation of particular ethical principles to social behavior and to investigate the cultural conditions that contribute to the formation of such principles.

Worldly philosophers have attempted to determine goodness in conduct according to two chief principles, and have considered certain types of conduct either good in themselves or good because they conform to a particular moral standard.  The former implies a final value, which is desirable in itself and not merely as a means to an end.  In the history of ethics, there are three principal standards of conduct, each of which has been proposed as the highest good:  happiness or pleasure; duty, virtue, or obligation; and, perfection, the fullest harmonious development of human potential.  Other than Tom Cruise and Oprah Winfrey, I know of no other mere mortals who have achieved “perfection.”

For the Christian, the authority invoked for good conduct is the instruction from God.  For worldly societies, it is the pattern of nature or the rule of reason.  When God is the authority, obedience to the divine commandments is the standard of conduct.  If the pattern of nature is the authority, conformity to the qualities attributed to human nature is the standard.  When reason rules, behavior is expected to result from rational thought.

So much human activity is simply a matter of custom or habit, where little thought may be given to many actions.  There is a great deal of behavior, however, in which people are conscious of why they act in a certain way.  They are confronted with the need to make choices.  At the basis of choice, two questions arise:  “What good do I seek?” and “What is my obligation in this circumstance?”  To those ends, the concept of “ethics” is primarily concerned with attempting to define what is good for the individual and for society.  It also tries to establish the nature of obligations, or duties that people owe themselves and each other.  Philosophers have said for thousands of years that people do not willingly do what is bad for themselves, but may do what is bad for others, if it appears that good for themselves will result.

There have always been differences in defining what is good and how one should act to achieve it.  Christian instruction has maintained that God defines what is good or righteous, and to seek that objective, one must follow His commandments.  Some of the world’s philosophers have concluded that achieving pleasure is the greatest good.  Other secular philosophers have pointed to knowledge, personal virtue, or service to one’s fellow man as a means of realizing goodness.  Consequently, secular philosophies have allowed individuals and entire societies throughout history, to conduct outrageous criminal acts upon people and justified doing so on the basis of some greater “good.”

The difficulty in deciding what “good” and “obligation” are, has led philosophers of moral instruction to divide into two camps.  One says that there are no definite, objective standards that apply to everyone.  They assert that people must decide what their duties are in each new situation.  Others have said that there are biblical standards, which apply to everyone; what is good can be known.  If the good is known, the obligation to pursue it becomes clear.  The position that insists there are no such norms, is called ethical or situational relativity.

So, who do you think makes the rules? – God or man?  To be continued…

Topics:

Christian Ethics

Humanism

Hedonism

Existentialism

Relativism

Self-Realization