How the Church Hinders the Kingdom of God - Part I

This is the first in a series of posts based on a series of sermons our pastor has been presenting in the last several weeks. Some of the earlier entries don't have the scripture references, but I have been diligent lately to get them down.

I. "Slinging Mud on the Bride of Christ."

There are 4 types of mudslingers:
1. The Missing
These are people who left the church and are ready to tell you everything that is wrong with it - some of which might be true, but most of which probably isn't. Otherwise known as the blame game.
2. The Malcontents
The chronic complainers - they always have something to complain about.
3. The Moochers
The people who believe the church exists solely for meeting their needs. They never have any input, but they'll let you know if their needs, as they see them, aren't met.
4. The Misbehavers
Church members who misbehave publically - an example was a man in a restaurant who was so critical & demanding (and loud) that he had a waitress almost in tears.

Three results of mudslinging:
1. The devil is handed an opportunity
2. The lost are handed an excuse.
3. The Lord is handed a heartache.

Freedom vs License

We hear many people claiming that certain things are their right because this is a “free” country. And quite often, we succumb to their demands, even though what they demand as a freedom is not freedom at all, but license. One cannot have true freedom without discipline. These people demanding these licentious “freedoms” want to do away completely with discipline. “Freedom is the ‘right’ to do whatever I want, regardless.” Often they add on to that, “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else.” That is a bogus claim, because any licentious behaviour is bound to hurt someone else. Everything everyone does touches other people in one way or another. We have a group clamoring to legalize illicit drugs, insisting that the users hurt no one but themselves. And not all of these are users, although a good percentage of them are. So, who is hurt by someone who uses, say, for example, marijuana? This is the drug most often demanded to be legalized. It has been called a gateway drug. Some people insist that it isn’t. People who have worked with drug users say otherwise. Even if marijuana is non-addictive (as many claim), it is likely to promote the desire for a greater high. Many addictive behaviours do the same. And who is it hurting beside the user? At the least, the user’s family. At the most, society in general.

We are right now in the process of giving into the demands for homosexual marriage – while the homosexual community is, at the same time, making demands that we go all out to find a cure for AIDS – a costly item for every taxpayer in America. People pooh-poohed Rick Santorum’s statement that if the Supreme Court dealt with Lawrence vs. Texas, that the next thing would be a demand for allowing homosexual marriage, saying, “It’ll never happen.” Six months later activists started demanding homosexual marriage. I have seen homosexuals demand the “right” to make a marriage with another person of the same sex. Now people are concerned that eventually polygamy will be approved, or any varying type of “marriage.” And the homosexuals say, “It’ll never happen.” We already have NAMBLA pushing for eliminating, or at the least, lowering, the age of consent.

A little sin begets a bigger sin, just as a little “white” lie demands another lie to back it up, and so on, ad infinitum. I have seen sexual abuse addiction. When the novelty of one type of abuse wears off, another one, worse than the previous, must be found by the abuser. The victim of the abuse may be virtually unable to get free of this abuse for whatever reason.

Our Founding Fathers said that our Republican form of government would work only for a moral and spiritual people. This is because moral and spiritual people tend to practice self-discipline. People point to slavery to deny this belief. But most people are unaware that slavery was one of the issues of the American Revolution as well as the Civil War. King George III refused to allow the colonies to make any laws curtailing slavery in any way. As soon as the Union was formed, 12 of the 13 states passed laws forbidding the importation of slaves. The fact that this was not always followed (blackmarket, etc.) does not negate its existence.

With the decay of morality and righteousness, more and more people are demanding the “right” to do anything they want. They accuse the “moral and righteous” people of trying to make a theocracy of our nation. I’m sure that our Founding Fathers would see reason to make more laws against immoral behaviour, and to tighten the ones we have, because we are no longer a moral and spirtual/religious/righteous nation. They never intended the degradation that is now occurring in our country. They told the people of America that the kind of government they had given us was “a Republic, if you can keep it.” We have not kept it.

Not only have we discarded self-discipline, we have even started to demand that our government “take care of us.” This involves the government taking money from the diligent and honest, and distributing it to the lazy and indolent. Oh, to be sure, there are some people who are poor not through their own fault, but such people used to be cared for by the “moral and religious.” Now, the government has usurped that position, and takes our money against our will, and determines who is “worthy” of receiving it. And we have even got to the point where many people, who have not been properly taught about our history, honestly believe it is truly the government’s job to take care of the needy.

I have, on a number of occasions, told of an incident that describes true freedom. Some of you old-timers like me may remember a ballet dancer named Edward Villella. I saw him interviewed once on television. The interviewer asked Villella if he wasn’t ever afraid of falling when he was performing. His answer went something like this: “No, I am never afraid of falling. I discipline myself and practice diligently so that when I get on the public stage, I am perfectly free (italics mine).” This response shows the relationship between self-discipline and freedom.

Blogging 2010

I didn’t post a blog in January. I’ve already posted most family birthdays, some of them twice. There are no new “Magnacalendar” pictures. If you want to review the entire year of “Magnapictures,” they are posted here. I haven’t been very good at writing up stuff, so have neglected my blog shamefully.

However, I do have a new area of interest to write on. My pastor is giving an excellent series of messages, and I have been keeping notes on them. It helps that he gives us a brief outline each Sunday with “Fill in the blanks.” With his permission, I will be posting a brief overview of each of the messages in this series, and perhaps other messages eventually. I will probably occasionally write up a completely original blog. I am working on one right now. But I do have the notes ready to go for the first four sermons in the series I mentioned.

December

Every month I am later and later with the first-of-the month blog. I need to get back into writing a little again!

Today I decided not to go to Sunday School since we were having freezing rain. It was a good thing I made that decision. About fifteen minutes after I would have left, I got a phone call telling me all the morning services had been cancelled.

I have our Christmas tree up and decorated. I may post a pic later, if I can find my camera.

Birthdays for December:
December 14 – My oldest sister Leora
December 27 – Me
December 27 – My nephew Philip
December 30 – My nephew Richard (Philip’s brother).

And of course, on December 25, we celebrate Jesus' birthday.

And the last Magnacalendar image:
Magnacalendar images:December

There won’t be any new Magnacalendar images next year, as Mike didn’t make any. Hopefully he will have a new one for the following year.

November Features

OK, lazy me, finally getting to post the “regular” features for November.

For the birthdays:
November 6 – My nephew Paul
November 16 – My niece Amy’s husband René
November 16 – My granddaughter’s husband Carl
November 21 – My nephew Gene
November 23 – My great-granddaughter Briana
November 25 – My great-great-niece Annelise
November 28 – My half-sister Lois

My father was born on November 23, 1877, and passed away September of 1967
My half-brother LeRoy was born November 25, 1921, and passed away in 2000 (August, I think, or September).

Magnacalendar!
Magnacalendar images:November

Baby Svana was scheduled for surgery, I think it was Monday November 9. I’ve heard nothing further. She had growths where the previous surgery on her esophagus had taken place, making swallowing difficult and painful. She had to go full-time to the feeding tube. Prayer that the surgery will be successful & permanent.

I’ve got a great deal of clean-up done in my yard this summer! I can now haul stuff in the wagon right behind the house where the ground is flat. There is still a lot to go, and I want to get some more work done in the garden before winter really sets in.

We got almost a bucket full of apples from our two trees. A very late frost destroyed most of the developing apples; others were affected in such a way that they had a rough scab-like surface on the skin, and it kept them from growing to full size. However, they got very ripe, and even if they afford just a few bites, they are delicious!

I ordered a bunch of books for Mike & me. One of mine was lost in the mail, and I was reimbursed for it. I’ll probably reorder it later.

Good news for my niece Suzanne! She & her husband Bob have the date set for going to the location of their missions assignment. Keep them in your prayers.