Saturday, April 30, 2011

Living Long

by pamela spurling from The Welcome Home Blog

Living long.  I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently.  I’ve been wondering to my self: what would I be doing today if I had been living long for the last thirty-some-odd years?  What would I have accomplished or done differently had I been living longall these years of marriage and motherhood?
This train of thought is the sort of along the same track of thinking as the question:  How would God have used me (or my life) had my whole life been yielded to Him?  Where would I be today if my whole life had been yielded to Him?
So, living LONG –  I don’t necessarily mean focusing on living a long life, or working at attaining a long life, but rather, living in such a manner as to daily consider the ramifications of decisions, consequences of choosing to do or not do something because of long term effects or results.
Thinking long means weighing decisions more carefully – choosing plans, activities, actions wisely and with forethought instead of simply thinking now – living in the moment – carried away in carefree living.  O, there’s a place for spontaneity and light-hearted fun — but living spontaneously often has significant drawbacks and consequences.
Thinking long, changes the way we live – changes our daily living.  Thinking long changes what we purchase, things we acquire, how we spend our time – and who we spend it with.  Thinking long might mean that we choose to invest in something today — missing out on things we’d “rather” do or buy  — because experience has taught us the consequences of neglect or inaction.
So you can see why I am mulling this over – a lot – these days.  A couple more birthdays have passed in our family — milestones have been reached — time is passing so swiftly and my list of was going to do’s is much greater than my list of have done’s.
I could very easily talk my way out of these reflections – excuse my way out of the consequences or realities. I could (and with a measure of solid justification) explain away the lack of accomplishment, the lack of discipline or skill or whatever.  But the truth is, much of the time throughout my motherhood years I’ve not had long thinking — I’ve not intended to live long — I’ve not keep an eternal perspective as a garland over my days or as a path for my feet.
Caught up in the dailies — and you know the dailies are *so* daily –  in many areas, I’ve thought short.  In many ways, I’ve lived short.  In many instances, I’ve planned short.  Instead of thinking LONG — I’ve thought TODAY.  Instead of investing LONG — I’ve covered TODAY.
Now, at the risk of seeming to back-peddle, I do want to say that by the mercy of God, there are and have been many things — many times — many decisions that were made for the sole purpose of future benefit, future reaping, future provision.  The consequences of not doing things one way or doing them one way have been strong motivators in mothering and training the children.  Governed by “she will do him good and not evil *all* the days of her life” has been an extremely powerful and important “force” in my life.
I’ve sought to determine to live according to God’s Word — it’s governed my thoughts, decisions and actions… much of my life — but what about the times when that determination has waned or wavered?  And what about all those times I thought short instead oflong?  What if, by faith, I had lived long?  What if I, by faith, had not wavered when I chose temporal things instead of eternal things?
What if, by faith, I daily had a long or future perspective when making purchases, spending time, loving my husband, teaching our children, keeping our home, planting and gardening, reading books, watching movies, talking with family or friends, making plans…
By the grace of God, I’m determining to live long while He gives me life.



Friday, April 29, 2011

Chivalry...Do we even know what it means anymore?

A Call to Anguish

Thank you, Rev. Scott Brown for sharing this moving message by the late David Wilkerson.




Help for Tornado Victims in Alabama

I am sure by now that everyone has heard of the horrible devastation that occurred in Alabama (and other states) on Wednesday evening. I have become aware of a couple of different families that were deeply affected. If you feel led by God there are few different ways that you can help out. I have a button on the top left hand side of the blog that you can click on and make donations that way. Here is a site you can go to also to make donations (through a church). Here is an address where you can send gift cards to one of the families if you feel led to do so. If you would like to help the Lee family (the father of 13 who died protecting his children and wife) here is a link for that.
 I hope and pray that everyone is faithful to God when He prompts you to do something. In the least, we need to be praying for all the people affected by this devastation. The Church is God's hands and feet, let us all do our part.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

"Too Young to Understand"

by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis
Many of you will recall the situation a few weeks ago resulting in AiG and me being disinvited from a homeschool convention in Cincinnati. The bottom line is that I stood publicly (in my previous blog posts and at similar conventions prior to the Cincinnati meeting) against the teaching of Dr. Peter Enns of BioLogos. Not only is his teaching concerning God’s Word heterodox in many areas, he is also producing a homeschool curriculum for children called Telling God’s Story (published by Olive Branch Books, Charles City, Virginia—the religious instruction imprint of Peace Hill Press). This curriculum was (and still is) a great concern for me, knowing that there is a concerted effort by BioLogos to promote what Enns believes to generations of homeschool students.
Because of these events, a group of homeschooling students decided to attend a lecture by Dr. Enns, and then speak with him afterwards. I met these students who, by the way, came across as very gracious but very sure of what they believed. I asked them to send me a written report on what happened with their interaction with Dr. Enns. Because of notes they had taken, and I believe the integrity of this group, they were very careful to send me what they believe is a very accurate account of what happened.  As you read this report, you will be saddened by the answers given by Dr. Enns but encouraged at the stand this next generation of homeschool students has on the authority of God’s Word. I do pray their witness to Dr. Enns will be used of the Lord to convict him concerning believing God’s Word as he should. Read their following account:
My family and I went to the Creation Museum Saturday evening after our time spent at the Great Home School Convention in Cincinnati.  We wanted to support you in your efforts to stand firm on the doctrines of our faith, particularly in regards to the teachings of Dr. Enns and the Convention organizers. While at the museum my family and I were able to talk with you about my encounter with Dr. Enns at the convention.  You asked me to email you with information about this experience.  The following is a description of my encounter with Dr. Enns.
Before going to the Great Home School Convention my friends and I had heard that you and Answers in Genesis had been uninvited to speak and to set up an exhibit booth because of the stand you took against the teaching of Dr. Enns. While at the convention, I and a group of seven other friends decided to go and listen to a lecture given by Dr. Enns so that we could know first-hand what he was teaching and so that we would be better informed when we went to discuss his beliefs with him. Since we went into Dr. Enns’ lecture with every intention of talking to him afterwards, we were all taking notes. After his lecture, we left for a few minutes to discuss what we had heard and to make sure that when we went to talk to him we were doing it for the right reasons and not just to attack him.
When we went back into the lecture room we made our way to the front and stood waiting to ask him our questions. At that time we asked him if he believed the Bible to be the true inspired word of God and if He believed it to be completely true, because he had said in his lecture that the books in the Bible between Genesis and Revelation were just trivial details. He told us that He did believe the Bible to be the true word of God and that there were no mistakes in it. We also asked him if he believed Adam, from Genesis chapter one, was a real man. He told us that he believed Adam was metaphorical.
We left to go to lunch after asking those questions. While at lunch we discussed what he had told us about Adam being a metaphorical man and decided that since we didn’t understand how that could possibly work that we would go to his booth to ask him some more questions.
When we went up to Dr. Enns’ booth in the exhibit hall we asked him if he had time to talk to us, when he said yes we started what would end up being a 45 minute discussion. We started the conversation by asking him why he believed that Adam was a metaphorical man. He told us that he actually believed that all of Genesis 1-11 was a metaphor. He told us that this metaphor was written to ancient people who could not understand science and religion as we did because their culture was so infused with idolatry and mythology. Genesis 1-11 was written in such a way that these ancient people would be able to understand how one God made the world and how sin came into existence. It is not to be taken literally though.
We then asked him how he knew that Genesis 1-11 was a metaphor and that the metaphor ended right at the division between chapter 11 and 12 of Genesis. He told us that he knew Genesis 1-11 was a metaphor because of science and archeology.  He did not tell us how he knew that Genesis 12 on was non metaphorical. After this statement we asked how science and archeology had proven that Genesis 1-11 was metaphorical and he told us that it was because of how long it would have taken the world to come into existence and from the fossil record. One of my friends then asked him how he believed the world came into existence at which time he told us that he believed in Theistic evolution, millions of years, and that man had evolved.
After hearing this we asked him if he believed that there was death before sin, because we all believe that death is a direct result of sin. He told us that there had been death before sin, because that is just the way our world works. Next, we asked Dr. Enns if Adam and Eve were metaphorical, and the garden of Eden was metaphorical, if that would mean that Adam and Eve didn’t fall since they never truly existed.  So our question is, if that is the case, where did sin come from?
He told us that we were too young to understand the theological implications of that question, and that philosophers have been pondering this for years.
In reply we stated that we did understand that by not taking all of Genesis literally he had gotten rid of the creation of the world, the creation of man in the image of God, and the entrance of sin into the world.  We also said that if he didn’t know that sin existed then we wouldn’t know that we were sinners and thus wouldn’t know that we were in need of a savior. He then tells us that we all have an innate knowledge that we are sinners and that we cannot know where sin came from. At this point one of my friends said that she knew where sin came from and she opened her Bible to Genesis and showed him.
Next, we asked him about five times if he would give us the names of some other people who believed the same things he did so that we could read some of their articles before he finally told us to look at biologos.com.
I don’t believe that our questions persuaded him to alter his personal beliefs.  However, our questions did confirm for us that we know what we believe and that we can stand on the truth of God’s word.  I want to thank you and Answers in Genesis for aiding us in understanding the truth of the biblical teaching found in the first eleven chapters of Genesis.
Please pray for more young people like these who graciously and thoughtfully challenged a PhD Christian academic concerning his compromise on God’s Word. They were certainly not “too young to understand.” Their understanding of God’s Word was way above this academic.
Also I wanted to bring your attention to the fact that in this account, it is reported Dr. Enns said he believed the Bible to be the true word of God and that there were no mistakes in it. But then, as the students questioned further, what he meant by this statement was not what people would normally think concerning the meaning of what he claimed.  In the new AiG book to be released May 1 (entitled Already Compromised), we discuss what we call “Christian newspeak”—Christian leaders are saying things that make it sound like they believe God’s Word, but in reality, their words don’t mean what they would mean in the past. Such “Christian newspeak” is pervading Christianity, including churches, colleges, and so on. I encourage you to preorder Already Compromised.
Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken



Monday, April 25, 2011

Are Your Children Walking With the Wise?

by Rev. Scott Brown of NCFIC

In Proverbs 13:20, God commends those who seek out wisdom by walking with those who are wise. However, someone who spends his time with fools will be destroyed. In Proverbs 22:15, God says, “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child.” Why then do people lump their children with other children, as a dominant source of companionship, such as during youth group? Is it for relationship? Is it so they can have fun? Is it because parents do not want to spend the time to train them? Is it because they want to worship without distraction?
Do you want your children to be wise? Put them in the company of biblically wise people. Do you want your children to be wise? Train them as it says in Deuteronomy 6:6-9. Do you want your children to be wise? Obey the Word of God and command them to seek wisdom with all of their heart. Model this for them, and seek that wisdom with your children.


How to Use a Drop Spindle



Isaiah 41:10 Seven promises from God-one for each day of the week

Sunday- "Do not fear,

Monday- for I am with you;
        
Tuesday- Do not anxiously look about you,

Wednesday- for I am your God
      
Thursday- I will strengthen you,

Friday- surely I will help you,
        
Saturday- Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.'


My thanks go to Nancy Campbell for pointing this verse out today on Facebook.

Sunday, April 24, 2011


He is Risen!!

He is Risen indeed!!!


Friday, April 22, 2011

Robin Hood & The Government Schools

Knock, knock. “Who could be here at this time of night?” you wonder to yourself. Slowly you find your way to the door and peer out. A man in a shabby jacket is standing on your doorstep, shivering just a little from the cold.
Cautiously you open the door. “May I help you?” you ask.
“Hi, I’m a neighbor from down the street, and I’d like to talk with you if you have a minute.”
“Sure, come on in.”
Once inside the man looks around cautiously, sizing up the scene to see who might be present. He decides that you are home alone so he begins to share his story.
“I live in your neighborhood, and I have three children. I love them and would do anything in the world for them. I promised them when they were born that I would give them the best education that I could. However, I’ve fallen on some hard times economically. My wife has had to go to work just to make ends meet.”
You listen carefully, trying to figure out where this story is headed.
“I’ve passed by your house quite often. Do you own your own home?”
“Well, that’s kind of a personal question, but yes, I do.”
“I thought so,” the man smirked, “My wife and I rent. We can’t afford to buy a house.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, but what does that have to do with me?”
“Do you have children?”
“Why do you want to know so much about me? I don’t even know you. I have three children as well, but I don’t see what business it is of yours!”
Suddenly, without any warning, the man pulls a handgun from inside his jacket and waves it frantically. “Look, just do what I say and you won’t get hurt.”
Instinctively you raise your hands and ask, “What do you want?”
“I want $30,000, that’s $10,000 for each of my children. That’s what I figure it will take to give my children an adequate education this year.”
“That’s crazy!” you assert. “It doesn’t take that much money to educate a child. Besides, I don’t have that much money. I only have $3,500, and I’ve been saving that for a very important purpose! I’ve been saving it to give my children a Christian education.”
“I don’t care what you planned to do with it, but as an Atheist/Humanist, I surely don’t want your money being wasted on something like that. Well, your lack of funds makes it hard for me, but I guess I’ll just have to ‘borrow’ from a few more of your neighbors as well. I have a personal policy not to take anything from fellow renters like myself, but only from rich land owners like you. I have ethics and standards after all.”
You reluctantly find your stash of money and under duress and fear for your life, you hand over your hard-earned cash to the thief.
Before leaving your house the man turns and says, “Hey, you should be thanking me. I’m doing this for the good of society after all! Statistics have proven that children from low-income families like mine lack opportunities for higher education, and therefore are more susceptible to a future of violence and crime.”
You can’t help but guffaw at the irony of his logic.
“Remember, you need to think of others, rather than just yourself. People like you owe it to the lower classes to provide education and opportunities for them as well. I’ll be back next year to get my next annual installment.”

Collectivism

A year later, you have nearly forgotten the incident, and have saved up a bit of money to replace what was stolen from you.
You hear a knock on your door and innocently open it to find your nemesis from last year, but this year he has brought some friends. This time they just enter your home without even asking.
Once again, you are threatened at gunpoint. “Well, since last year,” the thief begins, “We have become a bit more organized. We have started a little community school, and all of us renters are gathering a little ‘donation’ from rich land owners like you to help us fund it. We all share the teaching duties and this helps relieve the stress of doing all of the work ourselves.”
“I wish you would stop saying that I’m rich! Just because I own a house doesn’t mean that I can afford to pay for your child’s education.”
“Well, I certainly can’t, not with what I make. I can’t afford $10,000 per child! The good news is that you aren’t just helping me this year though; you are helping many more of your under-privileged neighbors. We will have to cover more ground, and visit more rich land owners, like yourself, but it’s worth it. We’re doing it for the children after all!”
With that, one of the thugs thumps you on the back of the head and they go and take your money from your stash. With that, and a few words of derision, they leave you lying in a heap on the floor.

Legal Plunder

The next year, you have gotten wiser. You install a security system and a sturdy deadbolt on the front door. You convince yourself that you will be on guard, no matter what!
When you hear the doorbell, you look at your security monitor and see a policeman at your door, with a small group waiting behind him.
You figure you had better open the door to see what is up.
“Good afternoon officer. What may I do for you?”
“This won’t take long, but I need to talk to you.”
“Sure, come on in.”
Without asking, Mr. Thug and his thuggish friends enter right behind the police officer.
“Do they really need to be in here?” you plead.
“I’m afraid they have right. I’m here on their behalf after all.”
Glancing over his shoulder you see a handsome man in a tailor made suit. The man steps forward and extends his hand as a greeting.
“Hello neighbor! I’m Congressman Mobman, and I’m here to help.”
“Help me what? Hey, I remember you! Didn’t you thump me on the head last year?! That hurt!”
“Uh…sorry about that. That was wrong. We realized that the way we were going about things was all wrong last year. So, we’ve mended our ways. No more illegal activity for us!”
The crowd murmurs behind him, “Yeah, that’s right!”
The Congressman hands you a piece of paper, which you quickly scan. At the top of the page it says, “Property Tax Bill.” You quickly scan the paper and notice that the vast majority of the bill is to pay for  local school levies. The amount owed is $3,500.
“What is this all about?” you ask.
“Well, this group of fine upstanding citizens here, decided this year to elect me to public office. I have introduced a bill that passed in both the House and the Senate, and it requires that all of the land owners in this area financially support our school. This is all legal, isn’t it officer?”
“I’m afraid so,” he says, watching you carefully while keeping his hand on his gun, “And I’m here to make sure that you comply with the new law.”
“You can’t do this!” you protest. “I don’t even use your lousy school! I pay for the education of my own children, and that is expensive enough. I can’t afford to pay for your children’s education as well!”
“Well if you sent your children to our school, then you wouldn’t have to pay for it. It would be free!”
“Free?!!! Are you kidding me?! You are taking my money, by force, to pay for this school. That isn’t free! In fact, nothing the government offers is truly free. The government doesn’t have any money. It only has what it takes from others.  If my children are getting a ‘free’ education in the government schools it is only because you have taken my money by force to pay for it, or you have taken my neighbor’s money by force. I won’t do that. I won’t violate my neighbor’s right to keep his private property, just so my children can receive an inferior education at the local government school at no cost to myself.”
The Congressman shows a sly smirk. “Well, things are about to change. Not only are you obligated, BY LAW, to pay for our school, I have also passed a bill that requires you (and all parents: landowners, renters and homeless), to send your children to our ‘public’ school as well.”
He hands you another paper with the heading, “Compulsory Attendance Law.”
“This is outrageous!” you shout, thinking this must be a bad dream.
“You see, we believe that every child has a fundamental right to receive an indoctrination into the religion of Secular Humanism (which every sane person accepts as being the only true religion), and to be given every opportunity to reject your superstitious Christian fairy-tales. Therefore, your children had better be on the school bus on Monday morning, or else we will arrest you for violating the law, and we’ll take your children away from you and give them to one of these more-deserving parents here.”
“Here, here!” they all shout in unison.
“Okay, you can take my money, but you can’t take my children!” you declare, informing them that you will not be enrolling your children into their school.
The police officer begins to handcuff you, but he is stopped by the Congressman. “No need to do that officer. Some of my more conservative opponents in Congress have passed a law saying that as long as this man meets the right qualifications, he can receive an exemption from Compulsory Attendance Laws.”
“What does he need to do,” the officer asks.
“We’re still working on that,” continues the Congressman, “And we likely will for quite a while. So far, we require that he signs an affidavit declaring that he knows that WE are in control of the education of his children, and that HE is NOT. Then we will require that we have the right to view and approve whatever textbooks he uses, test his children, make him report to us on everything he says and does, make him get proper teaching certification, teach whatever subjects we mandate, and stand on his head for three hours a day. If he does all of that, we will allow him, for now, to continue to teach our children.”
“Our children?!” you protest. “You mean MY CHILDREN, don’t you?”
“No, I mean what I said, OUR CHILDREN. Children belong to everyone. That is why it is necessary for you to pay child support to educate our children, and that is why we need to oversee how you are raising yours. They belong to us all. You have no inalienable right to teach and train your own children. They, on the other hand, have an inalienable obligation to attend our schools, and you have a moral obligation to give us your money so that we can get rich from teaching your children to hate you and your God.”
“Get out of my house!” you demand, furious at this intrusion.
“Well, it won’t be your house if you don’t pay us the money you owe,” declares the police officer. “If you don’t pay your property taxes, we’ll soon own your house.”
You quickly grab the money you have saved, but realize it isn’t quite enough. So you look through the sofa cushions for spare change, but still not enough. Finally, you remember the piggy banks in your children’s bedrooms. You emerge with them in hand and after counting every penny, the mob finally agrees to go.
“Thanks for your annual contribution,” the original thief shouts. “It’s a pleasure doing business with you; and just think…it’s all legal! That’s the best part! That makes it all morally good and right. Thank you for investing in the future of this country!”

Religion and Government Schooling

As they are walking down the sidewalk, you notice someone you hadn’t seen before and holler after him.
“Pastor, what are you doing here?” A man in a white shirt and tie, with a big black Bible under his arm, turns around and smiles brightly. He walks back toward the porch, with a few other onlookers.
“I’m here to make sure that some of your money goes to try to get the Bible and prayer into the classroom activities.”
“But Pastor,” you protest, “How can you justify being part of this mob? This is stealing. The 8th Commandment in the Bible you are carrying forbids this!”
“Well, you need to give to charity!”
“This isn’t charity! This is robbery! The Apostle Paul instructed against this: ‘Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver’ (2 Corinthians 9:7). Charity should never be collected at gunpoint.”
“Look, I’ve got an opportunity to teach in this school. I can use your money to make sure that I subtly influence the school towards your values. I can’t share my beliefs overtly in the class, but I can try to get Atheist or Muslim, or Buddhist children off in a corner somewhere and try to convince them their parents are all wrong and that our religion is the correct one!”
“But Pastor, surely you don’t believe this is the best way to do it? I mean, taking money from Agnostic parents, and then trying to use their money, that was taken from them at gunpoint, to teach their children about your religion. Who would respect a religion like that?”
“Hey, everybody is doing it! The Wiccans, the gay activists, the abortionists, the environmentalists…I’m just trying to get my fair share.”
“You mean you are trying to get your snout in the trough before all of the other…”
“Hey now! Watch your tone. I’m a man of the cloth after all.”
“Let’s put the shoe on the other foot for a moment, Pastor. How would you feel if the Imam down the street tried to do what you are doing? What if he came to your house and took your money to try to use the school to influence YOUR children to reject your faith and embrace his Islamic beliefs through the ‘public’ schools? I’ve heard you complain about that from the pulpit!”
The pastor thought for a moment. “I do pay for these schools, just as you do. I see the schools as a competition. Do to them before they do to you, that’s my motto. Besides, that won’t happen. Our school is different. We have Christian teachers, Christian principals, Christian Administrators…”
“And an anti-Christian curriculum,” you interject.
“As I said, we’re trying to change all of that. We plan to eventually offer Intelligent Design as a counter-point to the evolution we teach, and abstinence as an alternative to the have-sex-with-whoever-you-want-to-as-often-as-you-want-to curriculum that we are currently using.”
“But that isn’t the role of the government; to tax people for education or to teach religion.”
“Don’t you read your Bible? Jesus said to ‘Render unto Caesar the things that belong to Caesar.”
“My children don’t belong to Caesar,” you counter.
“Paul taught in Romans 13 that we should obey every law and pay taxes to whom it is owed.”
“Yes, and I do pay my taxes, even the tyrannical ones, like this one.”
“What do you mean by tyrannical?”
“I mean taxes that are for purposes that are outside of the jurisdiction of the civil magistrate. Second Peter 2:16 teaches that the purpose of the civil government is to punish evildoers and to preserve justice by protecting the rights of the individual, family and church (praising those who do right). For the government to take money from its citizens for any other purpose besides defending its citizens against evildoers is an overstep of its boundaries. It should never take tax money to feed, clothe, shelter, or educate people. That belongs to me, as an individual, or to my family, or to our church family. We should have never abandoned these responsibilities and expected the State to cover them.”
“I must say that I’m disappointed. I thought you cared about children, and wanted to see Christian influence spread into all areas of culture. I thought you cared about evangelism and reaching the lost.”
“I do, but it is wrong for you to help take my money by force. This is money that my family needs to eat and live.  It doesn’t matter if you think it is for a good cause, that is just Pragmatism, and the ends do NOT justify the means.”
“Well, I’m sorry you feel that way,” the preacher said as he turned to go. “That is your interpretation of scripture, and I have a different one. It’s just too bad that you didn’t go to seminary and can’t read the New Testament in the original Greek. Then you would understand; but I guess we can’t all be privileged in that way. I wish you would join with us in trying to take back these schools for Christ. Send your children to be an influence. They can be salt and light, and convert their fellow students to our good religion.”
“With all due respect, sir,” you counter, “You can only RE-form, what Christ has formed. I don’t believe that Christ ever intended the government to educate children, and they certainly should not take money, by force, to do what is outside of their prescribed domain. Every scripture in the Bible dealing with education places it squarely on the shoulders of parents. Teaching my children, is my responsibility, and I intend to be faithful to complete that task and raise them in the fear of the Lord. If I were not taxed so heavily, to fund this “forced charity,” I would have far more resources to donate to truly effective evangelistic outreaches that do not undermine parental rights or violate other Biblical principles in their implementation.”
With that, he and the others walk away, shaking their heads at your inflexible intolerance. You close the door feeling like you’ve just been violated. “At least it’s over,” you sigh, “Until next year.”

Where Does It All End?

Fifteen minutes later, you open the door to see another man brandishing a gun. “I’m sorry to do this,” he says. “But my child has just had an emergency surgery. I see that you have a nicer home than I do, so therefore you have a moral obligation to give me $15,000 to help cover his surgery. Also, my other children need better housing, nicer clothes and food to eat. So hand it over and nobody will get hurt”!
You shrug your shoulders and say, “I’m sorry, but my pastor and his friends were just here taking my last penny to teach children in the government schools about Intelligent Design, evolution, environmentalism, humanism, sexual perversion and other Biblical stuff. I honestly don’t have money left to give you. However, I know that my pastor is making decent money now that he is on the government payroll as a teacher, and I know that he believes that it is ethically acceptable to take money by force as long as it is for a good cause, so you might want to stop by his house. Give me a minute and I’ll jot down his address for you.”
“Socialism is great until you run out of other people’s money.” –Margaret Thatcher
“It is strangely absurd to suppose that a million of human beings, collected together, are not under the same moral laws which bind each of them separately.” — Thomas Jefferson
“You say: ‘There are persons who lack education,’ and you turn to the law. But the law is not, in itself, a torch of learning which shines its light abroad. The law extends over a society where some persons have knowledge and others do not; where some citizens need to learn, and others can teach. In this matter of education, the law has only two alternatives: It can permit this transaction of teaching-and-learning to operate freely and without the use of force, or it can force human wills in this matter by taking from some of them enough to pay the teachers who are appointed by government to instruct others, without charge. But in this second case, the law commits legal plunder by violating liberty and property.” — Friedric Bastiat inThe Law
“No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individual members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose.” — Congressman Davy Crockett
Israel Wayne, http://www.IsraelWayne.com, serves as the Marketing Director for Wisdom’s Gate,http://www.WisdomsGate.org.
Reprinted from the Home School Digest (V20#1).



A Christian Response to Earth Day


by Doug Phillips of Vision Forum

For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20)
A Christian Response to Earth Day

All men are religious because all men have an object of worship. All men have faith in something. In the end, men will either worship and serve the creature, or they will worship and serve the Creator. But they will worship something.

In the 18th century, many began to worship the mind. The religion of that day was rationalism. In the 19th century, this god morphed into scientism. But science failed to provide the answers to ultimate questions. The men of the 20th century looked for a more immediate solution to the problems of humanity — they chose to worship the State. This failed. Statism proved to be a harsh taskmaster. In the absence of any real solutions from rationalism, scientism, and statism, men fixed their attention on a new god — or rather, an ancient God that just needed a new facelift.

That god is the earth.

21st-century men are earth worshippers. They are sanitized pantheists. Of course, they don’t call themselves pantheists or earth worshippers, but religious devotion to the material world is the essence of this modern faith.

This religious devotion to the material world as god comes in many shapes and sizes, but it has become ubiquitous in our culture. The new pantheism is at the heart of the green movement. It is reflected in the priorities of Hollywood, in the agenda of politicians, and in the curriculums of the government schools. It is found in the marketing campaign of Madison Avenue, in the reality TV shows of cable television, and sadly, even in pulpits across the nation. The worship of the creation has become a defining undercurrent in our culture, even as it is reshaping many of the cultures of the modern world.

And this is one reason why this Friday, April 22, millions of people (perhaps billions) representing the countries of the United Nations will stop to celebrate the high holy day of this religion as they pay homage to the earth God. Of Earth Day, evolutionary anthropologist Margaret Meade once explained that:


EARTH DAY is the first holy day which transcends all national borders, yet preserves all geographical integrities, spans mountains and oceans and time belts, and yet brings people all over the world into one resonating accord, is devoted to the preservation of the harmony in nature and yet draws upon the triumphs of technology, the measurement of time, and instantaneous communication through space. EARTH DAY draws on astronomical phenomena in a new way — which is also the most ancient way — by using the vernal Equinox, the time when the Sun crosses the equator making the length of night and day equal in all parts of the earth. To this point in the annual calendar, EARTH DAY attaches no local or divisive set of symbols, no statement of the truth or superiority of one way of life over another.

Should Christians care about the earth? Not only must we care about it, we have a holy duty to engage the earth. The difference between the objectives of biblical Christianity and radical environmentalism can be found in the religious assumptions of both groups.

Four Lies of the Radical Environmentalist Movement

With Earth Day comes billions of dollars worth of environmentalist propaganda driven by their religious worldview. Some of the themes you can expect to hear repeated this year include the following:

1. The Earth Is Our Mother: The very expression “Mother Earth” is popular parlance in our culture and reflects the old pagan longing to worship the physical world. Modern environmentalists, with their devotion to the idea that man is just another life-form to spring from the womb of the earth on the evolutionary journey of life, speak openly about earth being the mother of man.

2. Human Life Has No Greater Intrinsic Value Than Animal Life: The notion that man is an insignificant blip in the universe and that our planet is almost as insignificant as man is an oft-repeated concept of the modern environmentalist movement. Radical environmentalists complain about the carbon footprints of humans, and the sin of “Speciesism” — man discriminating against lower life-forms.

3. The Greatest Crisis Facing Humans is the Despoiling of the Earth: From the media campaigns of former Vice President Al Gore, to the film agenda of Avatar, radical environmentalists want you to believe that the single greatest problem facing humanity is the environmental destruction of earth.

4. Absent a Radical Shift in Private Practice and Public Policy, the Environmental Crisis Will Lead to the End of Life on Earth: Modern pantheists care deeply about the future. One thing is clear: Radical envioronmentalists have their own eschatology. They see the end of the world coming because of nuclear waste, global warming, the loss of rainforest in the Amazon, or any of a host of perceived environmental hazards.

Four Christian Assumptions About the Earth
1. The Earth is Witness to the Power and Authority of God the Creator Who Alone May Be Worshipped: The Bible teaches that the very existence of the earth is a reminder to all men of the eternal power and Godhood of Christ, so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20). It reminds us that as long as the earth continues, the promises of God will remain faithful (Genesis 8:22; Deuteronomy 7:9). Significantly, the Bible warns us that the consequence for man rejecting the witness of creation is that he worships creation itself (Romans 1:22-25).

2. The Earth Was Made for the Glory of God and the Benefit of Man Who Was Made the Pinnacle of Creation and of Infinitely Greater Value than Animals or the Earth Itself: Man is the pinnacle of creation and has more eternal value than the earth or any of the creatures who live on it (Psalm 8:5). Man is not a carbon footprint; he is the image-bearer of God. This means that the most “insignificant” human life (insignificant only in the eyes of man) is of inestimably greater value than that of a blue whale, a snail darter, a spotted owl, a mountain, or a tree.

3. The Earth Has Been Placed under Man who Has a Moral Obligation to Subdue it and to Exercise Wise Stewardship over the Earth: Man is God’s appointed steward on earth, and his core mission is to be His agent of dominion over it. Toward this end, God has placed all things under man to be used for his benefit and to be carefully stewarded and cultivated for God’s glory. “Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet” (Psalm 8:6).

4. The Earth is Not the Problem: The reason why the earth suffers is because of man’s sin that has plunged the earth into judgment. Man brought death and judgment to earth. In fact, the whole creation is groaning and waiting redemption (Romans 8:22-23). Despite the righteous judgment of God on earth, He is merciful and promises the continuation of the seasons and the fundamental stability of the planet until the end of time (Genesis 8:22), at which there will be a new heaven and new earth (2 Peter 3:13).

Conclusion

All men are religious because all men have an object of worship. In the end, they will worship and serve the creature, or they will worship and serve the Creator. But they will worship something.

Earth Day, and the radical environmental movement that spawned this high holy day of pantheism, are at war with the Gospel because they perpetuate false worship. The Christian response to the idolatry of Earth Day might be reduced to this simple thought: Jesus Christ is the Creator, and He alone is to be worshipped. He created man as the pinnacle of creation and determined that humans would be the only part of creation to be made in the very image of God, and that man as the image-bearer of God would rule over the earth.

On a practical level, this means that Christians need to stop allowing the radical environmentalist movement to define the issue. We must cease from being the tail and become the head on the question of our duties, privileges, and responsibilities vis-a-vis creation. The Bible has a great deal to say about our use of the resources of the world and our relationship to the earth. Of all people, Christians who honor the Creator should have a passion for creation. We are losing the debate through subversion, silence, lack of vision, and because of the Christian community’s fear of the God-ordained, perpetually valid, creation precept called “The Dominion Mandate.” This mandate directs man is to rule over the earth, subduing it and taking dominion over it for his benefit and for God’s glory. Implicit to the Dominion Mandate is the duty of man to cultivate, wisely manage, and carefully steward the planet.
Finally, man’s problems will never be solved through the elevation of human reason, the power of science, or the interventions of the state. Nor will rescuing the biosphere of planet earth save man or ensure him a future on this planet. You cannot save the earth. But human beings can be saved. And the only hope of salvation is found in Jesus Christ — the Creator! It is this Creator through whom we live and breathe and who by the very power of His word holds the worlds together. He will someday establish a new heaven and a new earth and will bring all of His people into Glory.