Separation of Church and State… Is That Even Possible?

January 6, 2013Allen Frederick 2 Comments

When Jesus came near, he spoke to them. He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. “And remember that I am always with you until the end of time.” Matthew 28:18-20 (GW)

Imagine for a moment that Jesus has just completed his three years of training with the disciples. He has been crucified and is now commissioning the twelve to go into the world and disciple the nations. Now imagine him also making this statement to them.

“Dear brothers, it is now time for you to share what you have learned from me. However, as you share with others be sure that you keep what I taught you separate from your social life. The principles I have shared with you only apply in situations inside your home. Do not try to make them fit into a social context. The miracles you saw in me can only be done in certain situations. Keep this in mind when thinking about praying for the sick or the lost. These truths will not work in society.”

Sound preposterous? It may, but this is the mindset of many in our world today. The spiritual does not mix with the everyday world. “What happens on Monday has no relationship to what takes place on Sunday,” they say.

These are the thoughts expressed so much in our day and time. If you heard it once you have heard it a hundred times at least. Separation of Church and State. The two should never mix. The two need to be kept apart.

The world would want us to keep our religion to ourselves and not to share it wherever we go. That is like asking you to live without breathing. It is not possible to live without breathing, nor is it possible to live your everyday life apart from Christ if you truly are a disciple of Christ. To truly follow him and live our life according to his principles it is impossible to live one way at church and an entirely different way at home or in society? Jesus would call this type of living hypocrisy. Either we are for Him or we are against Him. We can not serve Him only at our convenience for then we are not serving Him at all. We can not choose to love Him one day and ignore Him the next.

We can not choose to follow His laws and commands only in the church since the laws were given to man before there was a church. The law of God was passed to Moses before there was a tabernacle or a temple. Moses was given the law of God and then instructed on how to worship Him. The law was given so that the Israelites would know how to live and prosper in the land God was going to give them.

The laws were to be the principles by which God’s people were expected to live. God expected them to keep the law in all of society and not just the church. It is interesting to note that many of out founders knew how important God’s moral laws where to a civil society and based our own civil law on the Mosaic laws. No one would argue that murder is wrong. No one would argue that stealing is wrong. No one would argue that being respectful of our parents is a good thing for children to learn. No one would argue that infidelity in a marriage is destructive.

Today however we hear that the law of God must end at the church door. We are told to not force our beliefs upon others, and yet those that say that have no problem forcing their beliefs on us. We are asked not to PRAY in public and yet how can we not when the world is faced with so many challenges? We are asked to not teach Christian values and principles, but how can we not if we actually believe that they are the way, the truth and the life? And yet it would seem that those who oppose God’s laws are winning the war on the separation of Church and State. Honestly how is that working out for our society?

I can not force my views upon anyone since I do not have that power. All I can do is attempt to persuade others that God’s moral law is superior than anything man can come up with. Personally I have to choose for myself how to live in this world, whether I should obey the temporary dictates of man or the eternal law of God. I choose to obey the eternal law of God for I have found it to be just and right and holy and true. It is the only law that shows no partiality for all are treated equal under God’s law. There are no special exemptions for special interest groups. There are no lighter sentences for the well-connected. All are judged equally and punished accordingly.

So by asking those of us who believe God’s law is superior to man’s law to shut up and keep it to ourselves, you have elected to be ruled by tyrants and subjected yourself to the inferior, biased laws of man. Remember those who make the laws exempt themselves from the law making the law only applicable to those who the lawmakers disapprove of.

If we acknowledge a Supreme lawmaker and judge then we have no control over how that law is going to be enforced, nor can we use the law to garner special treatment for ourselves, since we too will be judged by that same law and standard.

I can not separate my faith in God from His ways and laws. I can not live my life differently in public than I do in private. Since I believe

the teachings of the Lord are perfect. They renew the soul. The testimony of the Lord is dependable. It makes gullible people wise. The instructions of the Lord are correct. They make the heart rejoice. The command of the Lord is radiant. It makes the eyes shine. The fear of the Lord is pure. It endures forever. The decisions of the Lord are true. They are completely fair. (Psalms 19:7-9 (GW))

I shall continue to live my life by the law of God. You can have the inferior law of the land.

This is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. _{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

Along for the journey

This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.

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Deliver Us From Evil

Deliver Us From Evil

December 16, 2012December 16, 2012Allen Frederick 13 Comments

21/365: Deliver Us From Evil (Photo credit: The Cleveland Kid)

Perhaps one of the best known biblical passages is the Lord’s prayer, often recited by rote by many who perhaps do not even know they are reciting scripture. In this famous prayer we read these words: deliver us from evil…

The horrible massacre of December 14th at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut will always be remembered as a tragic and heartbreaking act that forever altered the lives of hundreds of families and sent shock waves throughout the nation. At the very least it was a despicable act of evil targeting the innocent in our society, and our hearts and prayers are directed to the loved ones of each victim.

At this moment psychiatrists, counselors, politicians, journalists, law enforcement and many other professionals everywhere are scrambling to reason out the cause of such a heinous act by looking for some mental disorder which may have precipitated this violent act when the answer is a clear and obvious indictment against the moral condition of our very culture..a culture of death.

Everywhere we look in our society we see a wall of self appeasement, godless rebellion and disrespect for human life. Hollywood cranks out movies of ever-increasing gore and prolific bloodshed. Video games center around killing and destruction without conscience or thought. But the single most egregious part and centerpiece to all of this is the “shedding of innocent blood”, the killing of the defenseless for personal convenience.The blood of the innocent cries out as a witness against us. The many innocent children who lost their lives at the hands of a mad gunman although heinous pales in comparison to the millions of children who lost their lives at the hands of an abortionists. Although nameless and faceless they too are known and loved by God. Their lives are just as precious as the ones lost in Connecticut.

I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, Deuteronomy 30:19 (HCSB)

We continually excuse evil and attempt to rehabilitate violent offenders by trying to understand the mindset of an evil person but completely ignore the heart-set of the same. Any attempts to alter the mind without regard to reshaping the heart attitude of an individual will only lead to failure. Altering the human heart can not be accomplished on a couch in some therapist’s office. Changing the very nature of an individual can not be regulated or legislated. No law is able to alter the human condition, only God can permanently transform a human heart and cause it to turn from the culture of death.

And they will come there, and take away all the hated and disgusting things from it. And I will give them a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in them; and I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh: So that they may be guided by my rules and keep my orders and do them: and they will be to me a people, and I will be to them a God. But as for those whose heart goes after their hated and disgusting things, I will send on their heads the punishment of their ways, says the Lord. Ezekiel 11:18-21 (BBE)

The is the real power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in it lies the power of God to transform a life, to change an evil heart into a loving heart. Yes we can debate and discuss and try to get into the head of the madman who gunned down the innocents in Connecticut, but what is needed is to get to the heart of the man and change it. There is no law capable of changing the intents of a man’s heart; to do that we need more of Christ in the world, not more laws.

As repulsive and heartbreaking as the tragedy in Connecticut was, if we continue to embrace the culture of death and continually cheapen human life things will not get better but get progressively worse.

There is an answer and a cure for this evil, it can be found in the Biblical words of: 2 Chronicles 7:14.

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

We need to get back to godly morality instead of trying to cut God from our culture. We need to repent of turning our collective backs on God and instead invite Him to change America’s heart. We need to repent of our culture of death and embrace life and love which comes from following after God.

We need to seek Him while there is yet time

For I am conscious of my thoughts about you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you hope at the end. And you will go on crying to me and making prayer to me, and I will give ear to you. And you will be searching for me and I will be there, when you have gone after me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:11-13 (BBE)

Yes America there is evil in the world, pray with me as many have prayed for many years:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. Matthew 6:9-13 (KJV)

This is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness.

_{Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)}

Along for the journey

This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.

Powerless

November 30, 2012November 30, 2012Allen Frederick 2 Comments

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!

The resulting power outage caused by Hurricane Sandy caused teenagers for the first time in their lifetime to live without any electricity, and (can you even imagine) – without a cell phone! For the first time in their lives they enjoyed the privilege of experiencing what life was like decades ago. Forced to slow down, unable to text or “Facebook”, everyone who lost power entered a “moment” of technological communication silence, and they waited anxiously for the powers that be to restore their normal life patterns. How many actually enjoyed this, or found a relief from the tyranny of communication technology, I wonder? How many actually took any time out to “wait on the Lord”? I have to wonder if the Almighty had much more company than He was used to during this time.

How much, really, do we depend on earthly power? And how much on the power of God?

The past election was another power outage that affected the loosing party in particular. After their lose the excuses started to pile up one on top of another. Every possible reason for their political power being shut-off was addressed with one glaring exception. There was no mention of lawlessness, or rebellion against God.

It would seem even from the electorate that there is no longer any interest in Godliness, but rather we are attempting to work out our own salvation. We are attempting to work in our own limited strength and not tapping into the source of all power-God. This is idolatry at its worst. To think that we mere humans are capable of addressing life’s storms apart from God is foolhardy. Trying to power-up our own lives while separated from the true ‘power grid‘ is about as useful as the teens toys during the Hurricane Sandy power outage. No amount of complaining or arguing is going to restore this lost power until the power lines are reconnected.

Perhaps there are those who have generators as back-up power sources and there maybe others who have the ability to recharge batteries using solar power. But in every case there must be a source of power to generate power.

For the East Coast effected by Hurricane Sandy the restoration of electrical power rests in the hands of the power company‘s ability to repair service lines and restore damaged generating stations. For inner strength and the power to overcome defeats and set-backs there is a different source of power. That source is the Lord! If we truly want to gain power in this world then we need to get access to the greatest power source in the entire universe.

It is far better to be working with God rather than against Him don’t you think?

Wait I say on the Lord!

This is a view from the nest. What say you?