Why should Christians vote?

Because God says so.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
(Romans 13:1-8)

As a Christian living in a Democracy, we owe a duty to our country to vote and serve jury duty, as well as pay our taxes. God ordains who our leaders will be, but that doesn't relieve us from the obligation to vote. Its very much like a picture of Salvation, God has chosen his children from before time began, but we must make the choice to receive God's forgiveness. Likewise we are actively charged to bring the Word to our neighbors. The fact of the one (God has chosen his elect) does not lessen the duty given to us (of accepting personally and spreading the Good News).

If voting is truly a picture of Salvation then Christians should be afraid to not vote! Moses broke a picture (by speaking to the rock, it would have been an example of asking Jesus for Salvation Numbers 20:7-13) at Mirabah and the consequences were great. (Moses was disqualified from leading the people into the promised land Numbers 20:12).

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It's really that simple!

⁸Salvation that comes from trusting Christ--which is the message we preach--is already within easy reach. In fact, the Scriptures say, "The message is close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart."

⁹For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. ¹¹As the Scriptures tell us, "Anyone who believes in him will not be disappointed." ¹²Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They all have the same Lord, who generously gives his riches to all who ask for them. ¹³For "Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
(Romans 10:8-13)

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e-Sword - the Sword of the Lord with an electronic edge!

Rick Meyers has just released an update to e-Sword (v7.7.7). This along with Bible Gateway are the two main tools that I use for posts to this site. Other study tools include my pocket New Living Translation and my pastors teachings on the web. Oh and the teachings are pretty good live, too. ;-)

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In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Believe it or not. You either must believe the creation account as told in Genesis, or you must believe that the Bible is untrustworthy. But before you leap to the conclusion that the Bible must be untrustworthy, consider the choice. A book, written by the hands of dozens of authors, from all different walks of life, in several different languages, over a span of more than a thousand years, which is suprisingly cohesive in story, miraculously unchanged over a span of more than 2000 years (no other book is even close), proven perfectly accurate in all tests and attempts to discredit it. This against the word of men and women who change their theory nearly every week as they try and fit in some fact or discovery that just doesn't fit. The choice really is, faith in God or faith in men.

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One flock, one Shepherd

And I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must also lead those, and they shall hear My voice, and there shall be one flock, one Shepherd.
(John 10:16)

Here, Jesus foretells the Church to come. Both Jews and Gentiles brought together with Jesus Christ as our one and only Shepherd.

Later in the temple at Hanukkah (John 10:22-23), a crowd surrounded Jesus and asked him to stop keeping them in suspense and tell them plainly if he was the "Christ" (Greek Christos was the translation of the Hebrew Meshiach which is rendered in English as Messiah all of which means "anointed one") (John 10:24). Kings were anointed, in the Hebrew Scriptures (1 Samuel 10:1). They were expecting him to proclaim himself King and throw off the Roman rule. What they got was

I and my Father are one.
(John 10:30)

Of course, then instead of raising him up as their king, they now desire to stone him for blasphemy! This is another occasion where Jesus proclaimed his Deity.

But don't get too judgmental on these Jews who wanted to turn Jesus into their temporal King, and/or stone him for blasphemy. This is pretty much how all of us treat God. We want Him to fix our problems, but let us live with the comfortable little sins we like. We want Him to make us wealthy in this world, because we trust that the money will solve our problems. Or we just deny that God exists so there is no higher authority for us to be responsible.

Praise God, the Great Shepherd is calling His flock, and He knows us by name!

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
(John 10:27-29)

If you hear the Shepherds voice, call on His name and accept Him as the Shepherd in your life. You don't have to "do better" in order to be accepted by Him (Romans 5:8). Once you have become part of the flock the Shepherd will begin to clean you up! My pastor is fond of saying, "You don't get cleaned up to take a shower! (If you do, come see me for counseling!)" You don't become "good" to be a Christian. You can never be good enough. You become a Christian, and then God begins to make you "good". You'll make mistakes, but His mercy is new every morning.

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God Created

¹In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. ²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. ³And God said, ...
(Genesis 1:1-3a)

Here in the first three verses of Genesis, the Trinity of the One True God is expressed. The Hebrew word for God in this passage is Eloheem. In Hebrew, nouns can be singular, dual, or plural (more than two). Eloheem is plural. This is the "plural of majesty", expressed in English by the way a ruling king or queen would adress themselves in third person as plural.
In verse 2 we are introduced to the Spirit of God. The proverbial Breath of Life (Gen 2:7), who is also our Comforter (John 14:26), and who is given in earnest until the ressurection (2 Cor 1:22).
And in verse 3 we are introduced to the Son of God, who is the Word that was made flesh.

¹In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ²The same was in the beginning with God. ³All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
(John 1:1-3)

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In the Beginning God

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
(Genesis 1:1)

"In the beginning God" the first book of the Bible starts by introducing us to the basic truth. Later, when Moses asks God by what name he should tell the people of Israel he was sent, God tells him; "I AM THAT I AM, so you should say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent me". God exists because He exists. Those who propose that Jesus Christ never claimed to be God must never have read...

Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
(John 8:58-59)

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Proof of Evolution!

I found it! Yes, finally, after all these many years proof, solid, hard-core, irrufuible proof of evolution!

As I was walking down the beach, I spied a watch lying in the sand. I picked it up, it was a half-formed watch! Finally, a missing link between the sand and the waves of the ocean (the true source of all watches) and the watch on my wrist!

Yes, there are many uneducated, religeous nuts that belive in "watch makers" supposedly some tiny gnomes in Switzerland used to make watches until the Japanese started "making" their own, and of course all watches now are "made" in China. Bah, these religious fanatics claim that the fact that the watch exists is proof that the watch was made! Any educated and reasonably intellegent person knows for a fact that all watches come from the ocean. They wash ashore and are harvested, then have country of "origin" placed on them (no doubt to placate the unwashed religious masses). This is all proven fact. How can anyone doubt the evolution of watches, when even the most complex watch is thousands of times less complex than the simplest single-celled animal.

If living evolution is true, how much more likely is the evolution of the watch? Watches was up on beaches every day, proving beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt the truth of evolution!

Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
(Romans 1:21-22)

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Reflections

Taken while sitting along side I-90 in Montana, waiting for the tire service truck to come out and replace a blowout.

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Burns Bog is Burning

Last night when I flew in to Vancouver, BC I met some locals who were returning from Los Angeles, CA. They commented on how much cleaner the air is here than there... Well, not today. Burns Bog is burning. Actually, its been burning for a couple of days now, but today the wind is blowing the smoke into Richmond, BC. It smells a lot like when people burn their leaves on the side of the road in the fall. The acrid smoke is similar, too.

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Contentment

I was just listening to Ecclesiastes on MP3. I thought of the many people that knows the Lord, but think that just a little more money will solve their problems. Solomon, the wise, fell into a very similar trap. He tells us all about it in Ecclesiastes. He did what most of us would do, he spent vast sums trying to make himself happy. "Vanities of vanities" is his conclusion. It's all in vain, fleeting, temporary joy followed by increasing misery. Paul, the Apostle, found the true key to happiness, as concerns wealth...

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philippians 4:11-13)

Note, he says "I have learned... to be content". He didn't say, "I was miraculously gifted with contentment." Contentment is a choice, that becomes easier with practice. Therefore learn to be content. (Words for me, to practice as well!) Of course we live in a day and age where advertisers spend millions of dollars trying to steal our contentment. Personally, I just avoid watching TV, though I do occasionally make the mistake of browsing catalogues... If you didn't know that you "needed" something until you saw it in a catalogue (or in a TV advertisement), then you probably don't need it. ;-)

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Transubstantiation and other Communion Heresies

Transubstantiation - the doctrine taught in the Roman Catholic Church which declares the bread and wine in the Eucharist is changed into the actual flesh and blood of Christ by the prayers of the presiding priest.


The "proof text" for this doctrine is John 6:51-58 .

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said to them: Amen, amen, I say unto you: except you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed: and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me: and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for ever.
(John 6:51-59 DRB)

But let's not stop there, let us continue on and see the context of this passage.

These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.
(John 6:59-69 KJV)

It's pretty obvious from this passage, that Jesus was speaking of Spiritual things. Certainly Peter understood this when he says "You have the words of eternal life." If, by some magic, the bread and wine of the Eucharist became real physical flesh and blood then, by that same magic, should not those who partake of communion also physically live forever?

For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
(1 Corinthians 11:23-30)

A further, related heresy is that which claims that Christ is crucified anew each time mass is held. See the verses above. Note, that it says, "this do in remembrance of me."(emphases added) Not "this do to me, again and again." By doing this we "show" the Lord's death, not re-sacrifice him!

Return to God's Word, the traditions of man lead to eternal destruction.

This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
(Matthew 15:8-9)

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