CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
November 21, 2010
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
PRAYER REQUESTS:
God’s will for our congregation Various friends, relatives and co-workers
Our nation, military and leaders The persecuted church
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
IT’S A SALVATION ISSUE - 4
“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended” (Romans 13:3).
We are looking at the question of why there is such a hatred for the Judeo-Christian ethic. Those who oppose the ethic do so for various reasons, but one major reason is that they see their activity as saving something. The environmentalists see their efforts as saving the planet. Another concerns politicians of almost any stripe. They see their efforts as saving the people.
This has a long history particularly in the first century. Rome saw itself as the savior of the world, bringing salvation to various peoples, redeeming them and bringing them under the control of Rome. Of course, the Roman legions enforced this idea. Throughout history, some figure thought the same idea. Hitler brought salvation to Germany because of the horrible conditions laid down by the Allied powers from the First World War. We can look at many of extremes and see this (1).
Less overt are what we see in our own situation in the free world. Politicians see many crises that need to be dealt with, and they are the only ones that can handle the situation. Kids are overweight so we need to have laws as to what they can eat. Complaints are lodged against fast food establishments for non-nutritious food. Kids are spending too much time at computers. But before this ‘discovery” we find that government has outlawed dodge ball because it discriminates against the little guy, and play ground equipment has so many rules and regulations, fearing someone might get hurt, so the equipment is boring. What are kids to do? Nothing? Something? It is amazing that I am able to write this considering that I played dodge ball and on playground equipment, and didn’t get my feelings hurt nor physically hurt. It is a part of growing up. Yes, some kids broke arms and legs, but we all saw that as a part of life.
The fear of risk and danger is so high that government wants everything figured out before any risk is taken and preferably, removed. We now live in a society that has leaders who want to control everything from the cradle to the grave. Government wants to be “Lord” and any who see Jesus as such are considered extremists. Keep God out of the public view and all will be fine. The only problem with that is that those who have done this in the past did not stop there.
The French Revolution not only attacked the corrupt government but a corrupt church, killing thousands of priests, and later thousands more of their own citizens. Stalin likewise opposed the church in Russia, and his efforts lead not only to the closing of churches but the deaths of millions of Russian citizens. I read an interesting article about recycling efforts in Britain. In Newcastle, each citizen now has nine different bins to recycle with and are required to have them whether they have all nine items or not. They must put the right item in the right place or face fines. In another town, a fellow took the goldfish out of a man-made pond and took them to his own man-made pond so the first could be cleaned. He was arrested and faced fines and imprisonment because he did not have the proper licenses to move the fish nor did he give notice. John Stossel had a little program on Fox News called “What’s So Great About America.” He set up a street business in Delaware. There it took a few days of paper work to get set up. He stated that in New York City that would have taken months and would have been very costly. I have thought about the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and how much bureaucratic confusion was involved as one bureaucrat battled another for control of their little territory. As such little was done in time to protect beaches and coastline. Yet we are told that the government can handle things for us such as health care. Dennis Prager calls this secular sharia.
Both the environmental movement and the government are seeking to control not only our lives but our beliefs as well. It is much like what we see in the first century world. In Acts 17, Paul entered Athens, Greece, a city filled with idols. He was shocked at what he saw, and keep in mind that he grew up in Asia Minor that had idolatry as well. We appear to be headed in that direction.
One thing that we can do is relearn our history. The secularist wants to keep any references to God out of textbooks or say that the Founding Fathers were more secular than anything. Rewriting or misrepresenting our early history has become a problem (2). The early Americans used different words but they understood scripture. We also need to know the Bible better. We should accept the challenges in scripture, the questions it raises, and the joy of learning more about God. It is not always easy to understand but it opens our eyes to God’s relationship to His creation.
Like those of the early church, we need to live a radical life in Christ. This will challenge government and others. We could face difficult times. We are in conflict between our view of salvation and the views of others who think that they will save something. May God give us strength to face these challenges.
George B. Mearns
(1) Craig Carter, What is Wrong with Socialism, copied 7/5/2010 at http://politicsofthecrossresurrected.blogspot.com
(1) John D Steinrucken, Secularism’s Ongoing Debt to Christianity, copied on 6/6/2010 at www.americanthinker.com; Thomas West, The Theology of the United States, copied 6/6/2010 at www.catholicity.com;