Oh, That Joe! -- Gimme a Break -- Spirit of Dick Cheney

Political Punch: Oh, That Joe! (No. 48 in a Series) -- Gimme a Break: "That met with Vice President Biden's standard reply.

'Gimme a f*&$#ing break,' he said, apparently unaware that the microphone was on."

--

Remember main stream media's detailed and in depth coverage of Dick Cheney's f-word greeting to Patrick Leahy? The once certain proof of Cheney's evil, vile, meanness will no doubt now transform into the certain proof of Biden's good ole boy warmth - Joe is one of us - coverages, if it is mentioned at all. Do we need really need once again examples of media's left handed spin? Probably not. Just sayin'.

Still the key question is not right vs left. It is straight and narrow vs crooked and broad. Do any of us really expect, on judgment day, to be separated by our political affiliation? Are the sheep conservatives and the goats liberals? Yes I know a case can be made today and a good one, too. But right vs left is the wrong discussion for eternal significance.

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way which seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death."

Republican National Chairman Michael Steele says abortion is a choice, homosexuality is not

Republican National Chairman Michael Steele says abortion is a choice, homosexuality is not: "I think that's an individual choice (to have an abortion)."

--

Does Mr. Steele really support abortion (as the article suggests)? I don't know what Mr. Steele thinks by reading this no context excerpt. Probably he meant that having an abortion is a choice as opposed to no choice in being Gay (as the title suggests). Feel better now? This morass will be difficult for Mr. Steele to sift through. Looks like a rock and a hard place if I ever saw one.

Evangelicals are cutting themselves, donning sackcloth and digging through the ash pile. Their political clout (for all the good it ever did them) is slipping away. Now what will God do? This is tragic indeed. God's nation going broke (I thought it was Israel but whatever), God's political party straying in theology (I though they had platforms but whatever), what next? Maybe it was not God after all and our efforts and energies (as least our loyalties) were misplaced. The more grieving I see, the more convinced I am that the Kingdom of God is a foreign land to many Christians in the US of A. The Kindom of God is internal (resident within us) and the world experiences it only as it spills out of the Body of Christ into the earthly Kingdoms. Yes, there have been times when God sovereignly moved in revivals and altered the landscape, but these times are not the norm. When Christ returns He will establish the Kingdom of God on Earth. Until then we would be well advised to recognize the two kingdoms and keep them separate. "Be ye separate," where have I heard that before?

Time to drag out those old Greg Boyd sermons perhaps (the ones that got him into so much trouble with politically active Christians and earned him the Heretic Award ... again). Maybe he did have something valuable to say.

Link to Pastor Boyd's opinions.

Personal Big Huge Opinion: Pastor Boyd is probably more right than wrong in many ways. Tough calls abound. Was opposing slavery politically the right thing. It would seem so. Yet Biblical instruction is given to slaves to be the best slave you can be, obedient to your masters. No revolution? Some condemn the Bible because they see this as supporting slavery. But is it not more clearly the expression of the two kingdoms. One kingdom ruling in earthly fashion, the other influencing through being salt and light. No one said it was easy.

It appears history verifies the impossibility of creating and maintaining a Kingdom of God political structure. The result of mixing the two eventually serves to corrupt the Kingdom of God aspect while leaving the power seeking political firmly intact. Men seek their own way, their own power. The unseen "powers of the air" seek their own way, their own power. Citizens of the Kingdom of God would seek to relinquish all power to a perfect and just God. So what would that even look like in a political system today or any day? Can Democrats or Republicans or Libertarians or Communists/Socialists pull this off. Who is even trying, what political platform has God at its center. Our "big tent" politics needed to maintain power would not even know which god to head for. Is it the pantheistic god of the Hindus, is it Jesus or transcendental energy or all of them in Bahia fashion.

Sounds like the world is in a mess. The answer is and always was and always will be a resounding YES. Yes until the return of the Messiah to set up His kingdom for ever and ever. The Good News is we can gain citizenship in the Kingdom of God in the here and now through faith in Jesus Christ. What good does it do now? If you are a US citizen living in a war zone or prison camp John McCain style, the advantages are not always physically evident. You still get shot, beaten and your bones broken. Are there not similarities with being a citizen of the Kingdom of God while living in the here and now? Differences exist also. Kingdom of God benefits for here and now citizens certainly exist in ways beyond what earthly citizenship can offer. But the more concerned we are about our benefits the less likely we are to see (as in recognize or understand) the Kingdom of God.

Still, the Bible has plenty of advice on how to live our lives in the here and now. This advice carries its own reward. But is this that same living in the Kingdom of God? For instance the Bible suggests low or no debt is advisable. So if we have no debt, is that one aspect of the Kingdom of God? Some call it a "Kingdom Principle." To be sure in this day of financial problem we can see the wisdom of no debt. And there were those who believed in no debt and cared nothing about God. Are there people walking in the Kingdom of God and care nothing about him? And then there is Donald Trump, Mr. Leverage, the Debt King and the envy of many. Can debt be so bad if it can make you so rich?

Maybe the answer lies in our focus. Certainly low debt is a less stressful way to live. But is avoiding stress a Kingdom focus? Is it possible to desire no debt because God said it. Can we pursue no debt through our desire to obey the King? Can a simple debt issue be a test (ours not His) of our Love for Christ, not in the doing of it but in the why of doing it? Maybe two people can be doing the exact same thing but one is doing it for himself and the other is doing it for God. One would then be in the world and the other in the Kingdom of God in that aspect of his life. Or to put it another way, two can be grinding at the mill, one will be taken and the other left behind. What we do under God's leading and guidance because God is worthy of our loyalty and commitment is Kingdom of God stuff. Change the focus, change the kingdom.

God Wouldn't Really Send Someone To Hell ... Would He?

Here is an interesting article on Hell. Well worth the reading.

You might want to brush up on Jesus' opinion: (from the article)

How often do we hear that a good God would not condemn people to hell. I'm always struck by the arrogance of such a conclusion. Do these people ask the cockroach in the kitchen what to serve for dinner? Are we really qualified to decide what is appropriate for God?

Understanding David Flynn

Understanding David Flynn's concepts and conclusions takes a bit of concentration and familiarity. Some Googling for Mr. Flynn will provide ample opportunity. Youtube contains good sources. I find him interesting and provocative but understanding where he is coming from and where he is going takes time. David Flynn's recent interview with Steve Quayle does a fair job of weaving these threads together and making sense of it all. I'm not sure that listening to it without background will be as enlightening but if you have any familiarity with Flynn's concepts, you are in for a treat.

Download Location:
Part1
Part2

Were Do All These Gods Come From?

BibleGateway.com - Passage Lookup: Psalm 82: "Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
1 God presides in the great assembly;
he gives judgment among the 'gods':

2 'How long will you [a] defend the unjust
and show partiality to the wicked?
Selah

3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.

4 Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

5 'They know nothing, they understand nothing.
They walk about in darkness;
all the foundations of the earth are shaken.

6 'I said, 'You are 'gods';
you are all sons of the Most High.'

7 But you will die like mere men;
you will fall like every other ruler.'

8 Rise up, O God, judge the earth,
for all the nations are your inheritance.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 82:2 The Hebrew is plural."

Michael Heiser offers some fascinating work on the "Divine Council" at his following website: http://www.thedivinecouncil.com/

Having an understanding of the Divine Council clarifies many areas of the Old and New Testaments. The struggle by Jews and Christians (yes and Muslims, would that were their only problem) to avoid polytheism has distorted much of the subject beyond comprehension. Michael Heiser knows his stuff, is fun to read and is, I believe, right on the mark. Thank you Dr. Heiser.

This is not a new subject but I appreciate Heiser's clarity on the Hebrew "plurality," separating the "dual powers" from the "sons of God." In plain language Jesus is not a good brother of bad Lucifer. Jesus not only existed with God prior to the creation of all things but created all things ... now we are getting somewhere. Some who recognize the existence of a divine council in the ancient religions say Heiser is torturing the Hebrew text for theological reasons and the Hebrew is the same as the others ie God is just tougher, stronger, smarter than the other gods. But the Hebrew God could, according to the text, withdraw immortality from the gods. Sounds different to me. Is it possible that all these ideas originated from the same truth but some have been distorted by the fallen gods? I suppose if one believes it is all a fiction then that is a tough conclusion to draw.

Other Interesting Forays:
The Divine Council and the Kabbalah (containing more links)
PID Interview
FutureQuake Interview

SermonAudio.com - Ten Shekels and a Shirt

SermonAudio.com - Ten Shekels and a Shirt: "Ten Shekels and a Shirt"

Dear friends, there is only one reason, one reason for a sinner to repent and that is because Jesus Christ deserves the worship and the adoration and the love and the obedience of his heart, not because he will go to heaven. If the only reason you repented, dear friend, was to keep out of hell all you are is just a Levite serving for 10 shekels and a shirt. That’s all. You are trying to serve God because he will do you good. But a repentant heart is a heart that has seen something of the enormity of the crime of playing god and denying the just and righteous God the worship and obedience that he deserves.

Why should a sinner repent? Because God deserves the obedience and love that he has refused to give him, not so that he will go to heaven.

If the only reason he repents is so that he will go to heaven, it is nothing but trying to make a deal or a bargain with God.
Paris Reidhead

--

Downloading and listening to this sermon may be your most valuable endeavor. It is the best sermon I've ever heard. I've probably recommended this before. I like to listen to it now and again as a direction check, my little GPS device informing me how far off track I am at any moment.

Revival Hymn Downloads at www.revivalhymn.com

Revival Hymn Downloads at www.revivalhymn.com: "The Salvationists can scarcely read their flaming evangelical history without tears. Has the glory of the evangelical revival under Wesley ever gripped the hearts of the Methodists of today? Have they read of the fire-baptized men in Wesley's team? Men like John Nelson, Thomas Walsh, and a host of others whose names are written in the Book of Life; men persecuted and kicked in the streets when they held street meetings? Yet as their blood flowed from their wounds, their tears flowed from their eyes. Have the Holiness people set a guard at the door of the beauty parlors lest any sister should enter to get her hair curled, while a block away there is a string of prostitutes trying to sell their sin-wracked bodies with none to tell them of eternal love? Do the Pentecostals look back with shame as they remember when they dwelt across the theological tracks, but with the glory of the Lord in their midst? When they had a normal church life, which meant nights of prayers, followed by signs and wonders, and diverse miracles, and genuine gifts of the Holy Ghost? When they were not clock watchers, and their meetings lasted for hours, saturated with holy power? Have we no tears for these memories, or shame that our children know nothing of such power? Other denominations had their Glory Days of revival. Think of the mighty visitations to the Presbyterians in Korea. Remember the earth-shaking revival in Shantung. Are those days gone forever? Have we no tears for revival?
Leonard Ravenhill"

--

In times of severe trouble and need God at times sends his spirit with revival. Would that not be wonderful? Could we not then view this current difficulty as a tremendous blessing. To paraphrase Leonard Ravenhill, "we do not need a new definition of Christianity, we need a new demonstration of Christianity." Give me that old time religion.