Tag Archives: God

Harp Huggers Hug Their Last On Cloud Nine

Posted on August 9, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Many people still believe heaven will be like an eternal yoga on cloud nine. That is for those who find peace and relaxation through meditation. Western tradition pictures heaven as reclining on a white fluffy cloud enjoying eternal serenity while hugging a golden harp. While hugging one’s golden harp, people believe that by strumming a lively golden strings to the divine rhythm of heaven they will experience greater joy. All of this bliss is magnified by the soothing radiance of heavenly light.

Yes, it is a boring vision of man as an island–a western view of autonomous man in heaven. Autonomous man is left alone in peace by everyone, even God, to enjoy eternal life without government interference. It is an egalitarian vision because everyone that is worthy of heaven gets to enjoy their own rest and relaxation to the same everlasting degree as every other person on their own cloudy oasis. What could be more fair that that?

I have bad news for all those harp huggers. It ain’t so. Sorry to have to burst another bubble–the current economic one is depressing enough; but turning a blind eye to a false vision would be a great disservice. Exposing the false hopes, false dreams, or blinding darkness–however bright with hope may seem–is supposed to be the duty of writers.

The puffy idea that people who do more good than harm are worthy of own their own cloud doesn’t hold water. The whole concept is merely evaporated hope based on a false premise of justice and fairness. As the gospels teach us, do-gooders are no more worthy of heaven than the scum of the earth. Why? One sin is counted as a bad as all sins. Because we all have or will sin, the stain on our do-goodism can not be removed–no even with White Cloud. The only detergent capable of removing that stain, the shame, or the statutory claim against our moral wrongs is the sinless blood of a lamb or rather of the sinless son of God, Jesus of Nazareth.

That’s the gist of the gospel preached by Pastor Jon.

Can preachers like Jon and their gospel be wrong? It is claimed that they are. It is claimed that there are many ways to heaven whatever it really is. It is claimed that the exclusiveness of the gospels is dead wrong, but is it?

If humans are made in the image of God (Gen 1:26), a collective of humans in society is likely to reflect divine justice as least a little. That being the case, do we humans merely forgive breakers of our great moral laws because we are all really nice guys whose love surpasses the need to protect others in society from breakers of those law? Actually, our system of justice forgives no one for doing more good than the last crime committed that has gone unpunished. Of course, I must give credit to the many secularists who have worked very hard to change our inherent sense of justice, but it stubbornly persists as does the persistence of moral evils performed by once upon a time do-gooders. We human do take into account past good behavior or good citizenship in the process of punishing the guilty, which is usually expressed by leniency. Nevertheless, neither God nor we humans forgive do-good lawbreakers until after they have been duly punished–if then.

The problem is God’s only punishment for sin is death. The soul that sins it shall die, declared the priestly prophet Ezekiel. The wages of sin is death, said the Apostle Paul. Because it is, only death can fully satisfy the demand of divine justice. Thus, the only cloud of serenity humans earn by greater good works than bad is a dark cloud of pending judgment. That is except for the fact that God initiated and accepted the willing sacrifice of sinless living souls on behalf of us guilty humans. (Gen 3:21; 4:4; 8:20-21, etc.) Sacrificed animals, however, are not sufficient to satisfy divine justice fully for one important reason: they are not culpable for sin. Only human commit moral crimes against God’s laws. Only the sacrificial death of a willing and sinless human could possibly satisfy divine justice fully, and only God would be qualified to offer such a sacrifice. The gospel of Jesus, his apostles’ epistles, and the testimonies of those who constitute the Church claim that Jesus is that effectual sacrifice we all need,and the evidence is their moral and God-honoring lifestyle.

Thus, the Jesus-oriented lifestyle is the only one that can lead to heaven.

Jesus freaks are weird dudes because they have given up the Western and Eastern illusions of heaven as either a cloudy bliss of liberalism or an antinomian* free ride to heaven’s gate as the Hale-Bopp comet followers proved. Even if the Boppers made it to the gate, they were likely turned away because they had failed to get the right entry tickets. Jesus freaks, on the other hand, live for the day when they will live in a renewed heaven and earth where God evidently dwells among them. Heaven will be like the new beginning that came at the end of the movie Knowing–only better. For some it will be even better than being able to eat of the fruit of the tree of life again. It will be a techie heaven where humans will continue to invent new technologies, according Pastor Jon. I must note here that Pastor Jon used to work for the computer technology giant IBM. In this heaven, we humans will also continue to enjoy music, singing, worshipping God, exploring and learning, eating good food while discussing with friends and loved ones whatever comes to mind, and other things God created us to do. There will be a great new heath care reform plan too. HMOs, Medicare/Medicaid, doctors, drug companies, their lobbyists, and legislative supporters will no longer exist. In this heaven, no pain will be regarded as great gain. Broken bones due to sports injuries or other forms of play will a thing of the past, and so will wild animals eating or otherwise harming us humans. There will be no weight loss programs or the pain of failure. Who knows, a five-day a week job in which we do work totally unrelated to our training or goals may be no more as well.

Yet, the reality of heaven is hell. At the present, we live between heaven and hell. Some of us experience as much of hell as we ever will. Others, however, experience as much of heaven on earth as they ever will, said Pastor Jon. Destiny is a choice given by God. What one chooses is the only fate there is. Eternal life in heaven or hell is the final consequence of our earthly choices. This is a fact backed by the testimonies of many who have died and who came back to life to share with doctors, researches, and us ordinary folk what they experienced on the other side. You may have heard of Don Piper who has discussed his ninety minutes in heaven publicly and who has been written down in a book by the same title. It is worth reading, and so is choosing to follow Jesus to heaven.

Those who will not be there include the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, immoral persons, sorcerers, isolators, and all liars. (Rev. 21:8) I wonder how many people in modern business, sales, education, media, politics, or mainstream religion will make it above the cloudy illusions of success, influence or wealth to heaven?

* Antinomian is the rejection of all moral law and human accountability for it. Those who hold this view are of the illusion that Christ as the end of the law for salvation means grace is the end of all accountability to moral law rather than the means to fulfilling it. As such, grace is the equivalent of lawlessness.

Paraphrased quotes of Senior Pastor Jon Young came from this my own less than perfect memory of his Sunday morning sermon at Dayton Avenue Baptist Church on August 9, 2009

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Bogus Complaint of Ohio ACLU Against Proposed Pledge of Allegiance Law

Posted on June 23, 2009 by | Leave a comment

The Port Clinton News Herald published the following report about a proposed change in Ohio school law that would “strip Ohio School Boards of the authority to decide whether students should says the Pledge of Allegiance.” The law gives teachers sole authority to “decide if students in their classrooms will say the pledge.” Individual students would still be “allowed not to recite the pledge, but the proposal would prohibit anyone from altering it, such as adding or removing words.”

So, what is so bad about that?

“Christine Link, executive director of the ACLU in Ohio, said the proposed law violates free speech rights. School boards should retain the authority to decide if the pledge is appropriate.”

Whose free speech rights does this proposed law threaten? It is not students for they still have the right not to say the Pledge. It is not teachers who will gain greater discretionary authority in the classroom. That leaves those local school district officials who have decided students will not say the Pledge of Allegiance at school. Seeing the state already dictates school policy anyway, the loss of discretionary authority at the district level is almost meaningless.

The real problem is this: It “is a transparent attempt to force all school districts into mandating the pledge to be recited in all classrooms,” according to Link.

In other words, the proposed law threatens the ACLU’s socialist control over speech in the public domain.

Let’s evaluate this issue further. Children attend school to learn how to be good citizens of the United States of America. Engendering loyalty towards their national homeland is one of the original goals of public education. Who would grow up even to consider defending their nation if they did not highly value it? Stating the Pledge of Allegiance is instrumental in accomplishing that goal.

It must be acknowledged that the religion of some families forbid such acts. The flag could be viewed as object of idolatry, and a pledge could be compared to a religious oath. I cannot imagine any other reason for not pledging allegiance to their nations and the values it represents.

I almost forgot that the few atheists like those in the ACLU justify editing out of our nation’s historic Pledge those offending words like God through a secular interpretation of free speech rights.

Is it possible to edit out the same offending words and their synonyms from our nation’s founding documents? Even the second Constitution included the word Lord, which meant God not King Charles. It must be terribly offensive from them to read the multiple volumes of the Constitutional Convention debates. That is assuming they have actually read them. God was not left out. Then there are those federal building in which us etched scriptural references and even the Ten Commandments in the Supreme Court chambers.

Over the edge are statements written into the Constitution of Ohio. For example, the Preamble states:

We, the people of the State of Ohio, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, to secure its blessings and promote our common welfare, do establish this
Constitution.

Article 1 Section 7 of the Bill of Rights states:

Religion, morality, and knowledge, however, being essential to good government, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pass suitable laws, to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of its own mode of public worship, and to encourage schools and the means of instruction.

Ohio public schools are government institutions whose purpose is the inculcation of good citizenship in its citizens. It is the Constitutional responsibility of schools to teach children what a good government is, the essentials being religion, morality, and knowledge.

Requiring children to say the Pledge of Allegiance is not a violation of free speech whereas forbidding it is a violation of Constitutional law. When religion conflicts with offending practices, the Ohio Bill of Rights accommodates freedom of conscience. Even children of atheist parents have a right not to say the Pledge.

The intention of the proposed law is to eliminate politically incorrect censorship or denial of the Pledge in a nation under God.

Sources: Port Clinton News Herald, June 13, 2009.
                  The Ohio Constitution.

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A Challenge to Fatherhood

Posted on June 6, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Fathers have the high privilege and solemn duty to raise their children to know and love God. While all parents desire that their grown children embrace their faith freely and enthusiastically, when children are young, it falls to parents to make decisions regarding their children’s religious upbringing, including:

* How often does your family attend your place of worship?
* What congregation have you chosen to attend?
* Can you teach your children that your religious views are absolutely true?
 

However, your freedom to determine the answers to these three questions will be undermined if the United States Senate ratifies the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

For example:

A Washington state court ruled that parents could not require their 13-yearold son to attend church with them on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. The judge said that unless the family limited the boy’s church attendance to Sunday morning, he would remove custody. This Washington law (which has since changed) paralleled the UN children’s treaty.

The Scottish government, in an official publication produced to help their youth understand their rights under the UN treaty, says: “You have the right to choose your own religion and beliefs.” The role of parents? They “help you think about this.”

The American Bar Association, a strong supporter of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, acknowledges that religious schools that teach that Jesus is the only way to God “fly in the face” of the treaty. Thus, any who teach children that their religion is the truth are likewise in violation.

Under Article VI of the U.S. Constitution, all ratified treaties are superior to state constitutions and laws. Hence, this treaty will override virtually all current American laws on parents and children that conflict with it.

What can we do? Only a U.S. constitutional amendment will stop international law from interfering with parental rights. Over 90 members
of the U.S. House are co-sponsors of the Parental Rights Amendment. You can make a difference! Sign up as a supporter of American parental rights at www. parentalrights.org.

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Adventure with God to the holy city

Posted on April 26, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Deal bountifully with your servant,
That I may live and keep your word.
Open my eyes, that I may behold
Wonderful things from your law.
I am a stranger in the earth;
Do not hide your commandments
         From me.
My soul is crushed with longing
After your ordinances at all times.
You rebuke the arrogant, the cursed,
Who wander from your commandments.
(Psalms 119:17-21)

Studying the word of God is a wonderful adventure. It is a journey of exploration. The journey is not unlike the kind portrayed in Indian Jones movies. It is life-long profession that is often perilous. Overcoming the terrible obstacles means getting to and possessing the treasure. The Lost Ark is the treasure. The Ark represented the presence of God. The journey is thus both with and to God. It is a progressive relationship with our creator-redeemer-king. Inside the Ark was deposited the covenant and testimony God gave to Israel and the world. Thus the treasure deposited inside the Ark is God’s word.

As Psalms 119: 17-18 states, the treasure is more than something to gain for personal profit. It is something learned and lived while on the adventurous journey called life. It is life lived by the bounteous provision of the divine King in His kingdom. God’s kingdom encompasses our world as well as the entire universe. Nevertheless, those invited chose to enter by choice not by coercion.

The Psalmist expressed his emotional attachment to God. As above, the Psalmist’s emotional bonds to God are mediated through God’s concrete laws, testimonies, and judgments–in other words, God’s covenantal word.

As we are on the journey, we too may keenly feel like a stranger in a secular world. The secular world does not know God. Even many religious communities or nations, do not seem to know God. At least not as we experience the living God. You, I, or the Psalmist are not alone in this sense of being in a foreign land. The gospels express in great detail how Jesus not only felt this but, according to Christian teaching, he was literally from another world–from heaven. Like other acclaimed prophets, the feeling of not being of the present world is typical. The 11th chapter of Hebrews gives us a list of how many of them were treated as aliens as well. A more contemporary version of such a list is the Book of Martyrs.

As for the Psalmist, the people of God living in a world of biological and social necessities often experience periods of distraction in which they feel like souls disconnected from the life-giving Spirit. This is often described as weariness but not necessarily physiological. It can be spiritual affecting our mental state. Spiritual fatigue can create an intense longing for the renewed vitality experienced by communing with God mediated through meditation on His word. It is a moving meditation because the time spent contemplating the word results in mutual human-divine acts along the journey. Genuine relationships are always lived through mutual acts of communication and support.

That is meaning of verses 19 and 20.

However, the Psalmist is right to remember the consequences for erring from the commandments of God. Is it any different in secular society? Does breaking the law not result in suffering the penalty for doing so? Can mates violate their sacred vows of trust and loyalty without doing harm to their once mutual trust, love, and future life together? The end result is best defined as death. Death is the severance of morally bonded relationships. Can there be any worse curse than such a death? (v.21)

One reason for believing Psalm 119 was authored by King David is found in verses 22-24. Here again we read expressions of one who must have experienced injustices similar to those suffered by king David. Although anointed as king by the prophet Samuel, the same prophets who had also anointed Saul, David’s ascent to the throne was met with violent attempts to kill him. His rival was then King Saul, who had both ordered others to kill him as well as attempted it himself many times. After divine providence saw fit to end the evil reign of Saul, David was finally made king over Israel. Yet, his son, Absalom, was later to counsel with others about taking over the kingdom. Even David’s son attempted to kill the anointed one. There were leaders of other tribes and kingdoms who schemed against David as well. Yet, God’s chosen one overcame them all.

It is reasonable to conclude that these verses were part of very intensely felt prayer for help from God by David. For consider their content:

Take away reproach and contempt from me,
For I observe your testimonies.
Even though princes sit and talk against me,
Your servant meditates on your statutes.
Your testimonies are also my delight;
They are my counselors.
(Psalms 119:22-24)

Our Lord Jesus seconded David’s prayer when he proclaimed:

Blessed are you when people insult you and
Persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of
evil against you because of me. Rejoice and
be glad, for your reward in heaven is great;
for in the same way they persecuted the
prophets who were before you.

This is the last in a list of beatitudes and part of a summary of messages delivered by Jesus during his prophetic and redemptive ministry in ancient Israel. It is called a be-attitude for obvious reasons.

Because the Lord claims the sole right to vengeance for evils done against His people, we who are members of His kingdom must follow the righteous example David and Jesus. History has evidenced that both were victorious by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly with God. (Micah 6:8). Whereas David was a victorious king in his time, Jesus remains victorious for all times. His victory is eternal because he perfectly and fully accomplished God will and redemptive plan without violating the moral law of God. Because the redemptive justice of God was fully satisfied through the sinless life, death and resurrection of Jesus, Jesus resign over God’s kingdom is the prize of the adventure and treacherous journey to the eternal city of God.

Unlike David, Jesus was killed but God raised him from death and made him Lord over all. God made Jesus a winner of the prize of a sinless life that accomplished redemptive justice for all humanity, or, should I say, for whomsoever will humbly accept the divine terms.

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Purity in an impure world

Posted on April 19, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Last week I discussed Psalms 119:1-8. If in fact it is a psalm of David, this helps understand his inner tensions with his own impurity and his pursuit of living such a life. For David, the key to achieving a blameless life is by obeying God’s law. It is the same key to achieving and maintaining moral purity.

In verses 9-16 of this Psalm, how to maintain the moral purity of a legally blameless life is the question answered.

How can a young man keep his way pure?
By keeping it according to Your word.
 

As we saw last week, the key to achieving a blameless life begins with seeking to know God. It is a genuine relationship with God that results in true holiness. That is, no human can become like God with knowing, learning from, and emulating God. Just as kids emulate parents attitudes and behaviors, so it is by imitating God.

David repeats it in verse 10:

With all my heart I have sought you;
Do not let me wander from Your commandments.
 

How in the world can anyone seriously expect to emulate God who they can not see? The answer to that question was answered by Jesus of Nazareth. As you have seen me you have seen the Father. (Jo. 12:45; 14:7-15) Jesus also said what he saw the Father doing, he did likewise. What God his Father taught him, that was what he taught others. The life of Jesus demonstrated was the holiness and everlasting of God. Therefore, we should emulate it too.

There remains a problem. After his resurrection, Jesus ascended to the throne of God. Since then, no one has seen or heard Jesus emulating God. The good news is the problem of no visible example of God-likeness is resolved by the succession of followers of Jesus. Apostle Paul told the followers of Christ to “[b]e imitators of me, just as I am of Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1) Dr. Jon Young, pastor of Dayton Avenue Baptist Church, extends this is all followers of Christ. As we obey and live out the word of God, our lives will be living translations of the likeness of God and His way.

The point here is that Jesus did not come into the world to abolish the law (word) of God. He came to fulfill it. (Mt. 5:14-20) This was repeated by John, who put it this way: “This is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.” (1 Jo. 5:3) Paul expressed essentially the same thing when he wrote: “The whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal. 5:14)

That is how purity once achieved is maintained.

As David answers the question in verse 1, purity is maintained by:

Seeking God and his righteousness with all your heart, soul, and strength; (v.10; Mat. 6:33; Deut. 6:5)
 
Safe guarding the treasures of God’s word in your heart; (v. 11; Mat. 6:19-21)
 
Speaking about how God has made the law and promises a reality; (v. 12-13; Dt. 6:5-7; Mat. 10:31-32)
 
Rejoicing in the rich adventure and process of the word made life; (v. 14; Mat. 13: 45-46; Prov. 3:13-24)
 
Meditating on the word in order to continue learning and to remember. (v. 15-16; Deut. 6:8-9; Jo. 7-11)
 

The underlying current of the above is religious or ritual practices; it is love. Those who love God commit to seeking God, learning of God, treasuring shared experiences with God, and the rejoicing with God in them. It is a personal life shared with God and Jesus. It is shared because it is the loving relationship initiated by God (1 Jo 4:10) and continued by our response and continued commitment to that God who first loved us.

Psalms 119: 1-16 is the expression of love towards God. The life of Israel and the Jews began as an expression of God’s love leading to freedom. David is here returning that love through his desire to live faithfully in that relationship. Prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah spoke of the failure of Israel to do likewise. They envisioned the day of a New Covenant in which love and faithfulness would be the enduring reality of God’s chosen people. Jesus has furthered that new covenant to all peoples of all races, languages, and nations. For he is that covenant spoken of by the prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 49:6; 53:1-12) Now, all who keep the commandments of God and Christ show their abiding love for the true and living God.

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The blessing of faith’s law

Posted on April 5, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Psalm 119 is my favorite Psalm. This Psalm is intimately connected to the beginning of my relationship with God and Jesus Christ. This Psalm is full of precious gems of great value to life in both the present and the eternal future. Our marketing saturated culture should find this Psalm interesting. That is because it begins by extolling those benefits of the product being extolled. For teachers of grammar, this Psalms exemplifies methods of learning still effective today. It gives each letter of the Hebrew alphabet a lesson of moral and social value certain to impact the lives of those choose to live those lessons.

In this post, my observation will be limited to the first alphabet … sales pitch … and life lesson:

1How blessed are those whose way is blameless,
  Who walk in the law of the Lord.
2How blessed are those who observe His testimonies,
  Who seek Him with all of their heart.
3They also do no unrighteousness;
  They walk in His ways.
4You have ordained Your precepts,
  That we should obey them diligently.
5Oh that my ways may be established
  To keep Your statutes!
6Then I shall not be ashamed
  When I look upon Your commandments,
7I shall give thanks to You with uprightness of heart,
  When I learn Your righteous judgments.
8I shall keep Your statutes;
  Do not forsake me utterly!

If David the Shepherd-King of Bethlehem wrote this Psalm, the last verse makes a lot of sense. His life story was one of being alone, betrayed, and forsaken, but not by God. As a boy, he was often alone in the fields with the family sheep. He learned to conquer his fear though his faith in God. He developed great courage and fighting skills through his trust in God. God revealed His powers as David learned to practice the law by faith. The same was true later in life when King Saul betrayed David’s loyalty with jealous attempts on his life, and when his son Absalom did the same.

Whether David is its author or not, the above verses explicates different angles the benefits of a vital relationship with God. Poetic parallelism is the structural form of the first two verses, which means they present very similar concepts. The blameless are those who observe the testimonies of God. They are blameless because they do no unrighteousness. They do no unrighteousness because they obey all of the God’s word–commandments, precepts, statutes. Thus they live a life exemplifying law of the Lord, which also means to live God’s way.

This is what the author wants more than anything.

The key to understanding the above verses is in the phrase: “who seek Him with all of their heart.” The greatest benefit of all that is implied in these verses is being able to know God. If a genuine relationship is not the end result of whole-hearted seeking, then the rest is meaningless. In a society governed by laws defined as originating from God, obeying them would beneficial to one’s freedom and health. However, God would be merely a synonym for the state, which the reality of secular states. Secular states like Russia and China did exactly that they made the state the god of all people. The politics of evolution seeks to erect a similar society.
To those who seek God with all of their heart, the Bible is a means of making history concrete reality in the present. It is the physical soul’s connection to the divine King who is spirit. Another related benefit is through the same process through which humans begin to learn about themselves, their whole nature, their disconnected purpose, and the empirical support of their eternal future. For such, the shame and baseness of past alienation and moral destitution fades out of existence.

That is why the Bible is a dangerous book in a secular society whose governing authorities have vaunted themselves to the position of everyman’s god. It is a vital threat because while looking into the word of God its creator looks back and speaks into the soul and spirit. The Supreme Judge calls the reader to justice while pointing to His provision of forgiveness and a new start. The desired end is a life blessed and blameless before gaze of God.

The first century writer, John, called Jesus the Word of God (Jo. 1:1-18). This perspective originated in two different experiences. The first was John’s relationship with Jesus. He witnessed Jesus life, his teaching, his works, his death, and his resurrection. (Jo. 18:24-25) More important perhaps was his continued relationship with Jesus as Lord after he ascended to the heavenly throne of God. (1 Jo. 1:1-10; 5:1-5) Jesus is the embodiment of God’s word because he witnessed its literal fulfillment. Moreover, John was given additional treasures when God gave him a cinematic overview of the world’s future. As recorded in Revelation, Jesus is called the word of God coming to destroy the enemies of God. (Rev. 19:11-16)

The significance of Jesus as word of God is this: He is the means to the blessing of a blameless life. God was in him reconciling the world to Himself. (2 Co. 5:19) God thus raised up for us all the way, the truth, and the life to follow into the blessing of blameless living with God. (Jo. 14:6) The law of faith in Jesus is the way. (Ro. 3:21-31)

By Daniel Downs

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“We Hold These Truths” Americans Have Wandered Out of History, Part IV

Posted on March 29, 2009 by | Leave a comment

In this last installment of his sermon, Rev. Atwood shares some more personal thoughts and an appeal.

by Rev. Nate Atwood

And so I sit, in my driveway, hymnal in hand, meditating on the words of the past hymns, “My Country ’tis of Thee,” and thus upon the thoughts of those who had a much higher vision for America than I hold—“Our father’s God to Thee, Author of liberty, to Thee we sing; long may our land be bright with freedom’s holy light; protect us by Thy might, Great God our King.” I open my Bible and drink in the Scriptural truth recorded by Moses, “I am the Lord thy God that
brought thee out of the land of slavery. . . .” “Proclaim liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants thereof. . . .” Yes, it is God who gave us liberty.

And as I think on these things I watch my two-year-old son playing in our backyard, this blond-haired little boy wandering from swing set to flower bed . . . in his own way rejoicing in the gifts of God. He is happy. He is safe. He is free. May God grant that he will continue to grow up in a nation of liberty wherein he will have the privilege of pursuing the dreams God has for His life. May he live in the dignity which only freedom can fully afford and which cost our founding fathers and their families so very much.

As I sit, and meditate, and watch my son, it seems my sanctified imagination gets swept away, and in this holy moment I sense a peculiar variation of the “cloud of witnesses” round about me. I imagine–and it is only inspired imagination—General Washington, President Adams, and Patrick Henry standing around my chair, their hand upon my shoulder, their gaze also fixed upon little Noah. I see them in my mind’s eye smiling at this blond boy’s freedom, safety, promise, and pleasure at swings and slides and flowers.

I can almost hear their voices, softly saying, “This is what we did it for . . . so that you could raise your son in the dignity, potential, and joy which freedom affords. We delight with you, young citizen. Our sacrifices were well worth it. Now, raise him to the Light and introduce him to the Author of Freedom. And in that introduction make sure that he knows the sacred story of this nation as well as the history of Israel. Teach him to think Biblically. Yes, make him a student of history.”

Reverend Nate Atwood has been in the ministry for sixteen years as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. He has been Senior Pastor at Kempsville Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, since Palm Sunday, 1999.

See also Part III, Part II and Part I.

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We Hold These Truths” Americans Have Wandered Out of History, Declaration Part II

Posted on March 15, 2009 by | 3 comments

By Rev. Nate Atwood

(Read part 1)

Last week, I posted the first part of a sermon by Rev. Atwood. He shared the importance of relearning our whole national history. Those aspects that modern education censors out. As he pointed out, scripture was an important part of the rise of political freedom, which resulted from the rule of law. That is God’s law applied through human law. The founding generation emphasized the great value of knowing facts of history because those facts taught them about the causes of oppression, corruption, and failure as well as the means to a good and prosperous society. Therefore, our ancestors created states and bound them together in federation based on their belief in God and on their knowledge of covenantal and world history. To forget what they and their ancestors learned and achieved the hard way will enable tyrants present and future to repeat the same evils that robbed people of God’s gift of life and liberty.

This second part of Rev. Atwood’s sermon focuses on the Declaration of Independence and the role Scripture had to play in its writing.

If we Americans have wandered out of history, let’s wander back into it.

Speaking as a Christian, a teacher of the Bible, and an American citizen, I’d like to make these basic observations with regard to the Declaration of Independence. This isn’t, first of all, a political document. First of all, and primarily, the Declaration of Independence is a religious document. Let me ask you this series of questions, . . . why did the signers of the Declaration think they could declare independence? Why did the signers of the Declaration think that it was morally permissible to rebel against England? Why did the signers
of the Declaration think they, as an upstart, rag-tag, largely impoverished group of people, could defeat the greatest military power on the face of the earth? After all, wasn’t their setting a bit like the Taliban thinking they could defeat the United States? What motivated these men? Even more to the point, . . . what was their authority for making these claims and choosing this course of action? Where did they think human rights came from? How did they understand the role of government in human affairs?

The answer, of course, is contained in the Declaration itself. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.—That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men. . . .” As you read the Declaration of Independence, it is very clear that the moral authority for the drive for independence was found in
God Himself. Even more to the point, this moral authority was found in the Bible itself.

John Adams, in a letter written late in his life to Thomas Jefferson, remarked that the Founding Fathers found their agreement in the “basic principles of Christianity.” This is a remarkable statement, and scrutiny of the Declaration itself suggests just this. Let’s take a moment and step inside the Declaration and “connect the dots” between the various phrases and thoughts found therein and the teaching of the Bible. In fact, let’s begin with the idea of “rights.”
Where did the concept of “rights” come from? Well, it is taught in the Bible. For example, Psalm 82:1–4 refers to the concept of “rights.”

God presides in the great assembly; He gives judgment among the “gods”: “How long will you defend the unjust and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”

What we must grasp is that the Founding Fathers lived in an era profoundly shaped by the Bible. As inheritors of the Reformation, they lived in a time when it was simply taken for granted that society was to be structured around the teaching of the Bible.

Additional thoughts and phrases in the Declaration of Independence are clearly Biblical. For example, there is a clear definition of the role of government contained in the Declaration. . . . “That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men. . . .” Did you know that this is precisely what the Bible teaches as the role of government? Psalm 82 is written to an assembly of governmental leaders (these are the “gods” referred to in the psalm). Romans 13 similarly sees that the government’s use of force is based upon a commitment to protect the innocent. The Founding Fathers justified their rebellion against the British crown because it was a government that no longer upheld the rights of the citizens. Their logic was that the British were in rebellion against God by this failure, and thus were no longer a legitimate authority. Four times the Declaration of Independence directly refers to God. Each of these references is
completely consistent with what the Bible teaches to be true about God and is, in fact, the same language the Bible used to describe God. The first reference is to “Nature’s God.” The concept therein is that the idea of justice and law can clearly be deduced from the natural order created by God. This is precisely what the Bible teaches in Romans 1. The second reference is to God as “Creator.” The Bible teaches this in Genesis 1. (I realize it may seem obvious to us that God is Creator, but if you study world religions and philosophies you’ll learn that this is a distinctly Biblical thought. For example, Eastern religions and even Greek thought viewed the universe as eternally pre-existent—at least in the form of matter if not structure. The idea of a “Creator” is not so universally held as we might surmise.)

The last two references to God are found towards the end of the Declaration of Independence. He is referred to as “the Supreme Judge of the World.” Yes, again and again the Bible teaches us that God is our Judge (“There is One who seeks and judges,” John 8:50). The final reference to God is an appeal to “the protection of Divine Providence.” Here is a profoundly Biblical concept—the idea that God is active in the affairs of men, that God rules in those affairs, that God orders those affairs so as to ultimately protect His interests, and that in so doing He protects those who ally themselves with His causes. (“The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run unto it and are glad,” Proverbs 18:10, and Romans 8:28, “For we know that in all things God works for the good of those that love Him and are called according to His purposes.”)

Now let’s return to my earlier premise that the Declaration of Independence is first of all a religious document and only secondarily a political document. Do you now see why I hold this position? My point is that we must look deeper than the course of action our Founding Fathers took. We must examine the reasons for that course of action, and those reasons were clearly religious. Their appeal was simply to God as their moral authority and their protection. Their actions were political, but their motivations were religious.

In other words, before America was conceived in liberty, America was conceived in God. Now isn’t it true that a law of nature is this: “He who conceives is the father”? You might call the Declaration of Independence our national birth certificate. Every year we remind ourselves that this is the day our nation was born. And—if we have a shred of common sense—we honor our founding fathers. But according to this—our Birth Certificate—we were conceived in God and His Truths.

In other words, the real Founding Father is the Lord of Hosts. And so on the 4th of July, our national birthday, we should honor our ultimate Founding Father … our Father in heaven.

(Read part 1)

Reverend Nate Atwood has been in the ministry for sixteen years as an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church. He has been Senior Pastor at Kempsville Presbyterian Church in Virginia Beach, Virginia, since Palm Sunday, 1999.

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Sabbath Discussions : Some reasons for supporting Israel

Posted on February 15, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Rev. Robert Johnessee of the Friends of Israel visited Xenia tonight. Because I was at the hospital with my parent, I didn’t attend. If anyone did, feel free to tell us what Johnessee has to say.

Thinking about why should Christians be a friend to Israel, here are a few thoughts:

Jesus Christ is a Jew.
Jesus was born and raised in Israel.
Jesus worked and fulfilled his ministry in Israel.
Jesus was betrayed by his brethren in Israel.
Jesus was crucified by gentiles in Israel.
Jesus was buried in a family tomb in Israel.
Jesus was raised from the dead in Israel.
Jesus commissioned his disciples in Israel.
Jesus ascended to the throne of God from Israel.
Jesus, a Jew, was made Lord of all by God.
Jesus will return to Jerusalem Israel establish
   God’s kingdom on earth.

Jesus said, he came to fulfill the law of God not abolish it.
The law of God was revealed to and through Israel to the world.
Another Jew, Paul, affirmed this in his letters to the churches.
Jesus’ death fulfilled the law of atonement for humanity’s
   moral crimes.
For God to honor it, Jesus would have been as sinless as any    animal sacrificed on the altar in the Second Temple.
God honors Jesus’ sacrifice by freeing people from sinful bondages.
God honors Jesus’ sacrifice by sanctifying those freed.
God honors Jesus’ sacrifice by enabling those freed to live    according to His moral law.
God honors Jesus’ sacrifice by admitting them in his kingdom.

God made Jesus the ruling authority over the universe.
Jesus is Lord over God’s kingdom of which Christians are a part.
Jesus presides over the redemptive justice of God.
Jesus will administer the final judgments of God.
Jesus will govern the world with God when the kingdoms of this    world fully become the kingdoms of God, which will make a reality    when he returns.
Jesus’ global governance will occur under God’s global reign from    Jerusalem, Israel.
That is why the rulers of the earth should worship the God do    homage to His son. (Ps. 2)

All of God’s plans and promises will be completed including the full    restoration of Israel.
Christians experience the blessing of Abraham because the law and    the redeemer came through Israel.
Israel is central to God’s global plans.

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Sabbath Discussions : What is the mark of the Beast in Revelation, the Book

Posted on February 8, 2009 by | Leave a comment

By Daniel Downs

Now that our government’s latest effort to raise taxes is over, I want to resume my discussion of Revelation. I guess here discussion means with a conversation with myself. Nevertheless, it’s my hope and prayer that those who read these posts will benefit from my mental brain storms–as it were.

Oh, yes, lest I forget; I don’t actually believe these discussions will help any pastor long in the ministry understand Revelation any more than I think such students of the Bible are confused by Revelation. If the one I referred to in my first post was serious, I ask for your fervent prayer on his behalf.

Now, that’s off my chest; let’s consider what the mark of the Beast is as described in Revelation chapter 13:16-18.

Based on current technological developments, prophecy teachers tell us that the mark is probably a microcomputer chip. These chips are already being used in GIS technology. They are being implanted in pets, livestock, and in human newborns. Linked to satellites, devices, animals, or people with embedded microchips can be tracked to within a few feet anywhere in the world. If linked to supercomputers where our government, medical, and financial records are stored, big brother can know anything about our every activity including all of our financial transactions. With traffic and other surveillance cameras going up in every place imaginable, big brother as envisioned by George Orwell in his novel 1984 will soon be a reality. All that will be needed is a paranoid socialist dictator reigning over the world.

As mentioned in Revelation 13:18, the mark is a number representing the dictatorial beast. It is also pointed out by prophecy experts that in the future embedded chips will most likely possess the beast’s number or code to screen non-members of his global anti-religion club, which is another reason to suspect this beast will be a good socialist or secularist. Membership in this end time global anti-god club is voluntary. It is truly egalitarian. Its membership consists of rich and poor, famous and infamous, slaves and free citizens from all nationalities of the world. (13:16) Thus, under this tyrannical socialist dictator, racial prejudice is a thing of the past. The final bigotry of humanity to be eradicated is god-fearing haters of greed, oppression, immorality, falsehood, and the like. Consequently, those who refuse to join the club will likely loose their lives here on terra firma. (13:15)

One of the beautiful things about having everyone in the world embedded with a traceable microchip is how much greater the convenience in conducting financial transactions like buying and selling. Instead of wasting time getting paper and credit cards out of your pockets, billfold, or purse, all members of the global anti-god club will have to do is pass their hand or forehead past a scanner. It will be very similar to moving bar coded merchandise over scanners at most retailers today. Again, most non-members will not have to worry about this change because most will not be alive.

It’s true; socialist-secularism does not bode well for dissenters. History proves that much.

If we dig a little deeper (and here I’m not referring to a grave), we will find a few more valuable nuggets of knowledge. In the prophecies of Ezekiel, God sends an angel to mark the people on their forehead who were burdened by the evils done in Israel. (Ezek. 9:1-4). Concerning the rest, God ordered them to be killed. (9:5-8) Why? Divine justice demands unrelenting crime to be abolished. Those whose foreheads were marked for protection demonstrated their moral and emotional fidelity to the covenantal law of God. They choose not be become callous and numb to evil because of its acceptance and prevalence. They choose to suffer the pains of self-discipline and fidelity instead. That this is about a mental determination on the part of the marked and unmarked is further supported by God’s instruction to Ezekiel at the beginning of his calling:

“Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them. For you are not being sent to a people of unintelligible speech or difficult language … whose words you cannot understand. But, I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads…. Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them, though they are a rebellious house.” (2:4-9)

The same moral fidelity is also represented by the 144,000 undefiled Jewish bondservants whose foreheads are seal in chapter 7 of Revelation.

Here in chapter 13, the opposite is the case. Those whose foreheads are sealed with the mark of the latest and greatest dictator are as immoral, unfaithful, and anti-Christ as the he is. The famous mark, 666, thus symbolizes the trinity of modern secularism consisting of statism, humanism and socialism. This modern secular trinity is the allegiance of Satan disguised as the worship of humanity and self. It reflects the taboo of secularism and naturalism that claims god-is-dead or never existed while making the state the almighty and humanistic science its religion. This is similar to the Roman faithful making Caesar a god and building the temple of Caesar in Pergamum. Jesus assures us that this is where Satan seat of power or governance was located. (Rev. 3:13)

Jesus said, “Your heart is where your treasure is.” (Mat. 6:21) I think I remember a preacher once saying during an offertory that it is where your allegiance is as well. Okay, maybe it wasn’t a preacher taking an offering, but it applies nonetheless. Our fidelity to the covenantal law of faith in Jesus Christ is why the Spirit of God seals our foreheads as a token assurance of eternal life in God’s kingdom. (2 Cor. 1:22; Eph.1:31-14; Eph. 4:30)

Our mind and emotions cannot be disconnected from our eternal spirit.

According to the Apostle Paul, we are to …

“live no longer as the Gentiles live, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard of Him and have been taught in Him, just as the truth is in Jesus, that in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness and truth.” (Eph. 4:17-24)

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