Spiritual Gifts; Diverse, Yet equal In Value

What does God think about equality and diversity? Take a look at God's word and we can see how He sees it.

"For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness."

Romans 12: 3-8

We are hearing quite a bit from the mainstream media about inequalities and injustices in our society. The Declaration of Independence actually says that all men are created equal. But what does that mean? 

What it doesn't mean, is that some people are more valuable than others. It also doesn't mean that all men and women have the same talents, skills, and abilities. It does mean that each person in this country has certain unalienable rights We have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

In the church, each member is endowed with specific giftings. God also has given each person special, unique talents and strengths. There is not one person who can do everything. Each person will have strengths in certain areas, and areas which are different than others. 

God likens the concept of spiritual gifts to a human body. Each organ has its own function. Yet, no organ acts independently of all the other organs, for the person to thrive. It takes all the organs, bones, muscles, glands, and other body parts for the body to function correctly. 

In America today, there is a thought that everyone should be the same. No one person should have any superior skill that another doesn't have. What's even worse, there is the thought that the person with talent or skill should lower himself or herself and not have that skill since that skill was not given to everyone. 

In the olden days, when a child was in school and exhibited certain traits or strengths in an area, the teachers and parents would work with the child to help him or her to develop those skills. Those specific skills usually ended up defining the type of trade or career the child would have when he or she grew up. The child was trained in the way that God wired him or her to be, and that skill turned into a lifelong career that provided sustenance for the person and his or her family. 

But today, skills and talents are frowned upon. In the eyes of many, the skill or strength puts the person on a pedestal (they think) and that person needs to come down. In their darkened thinking, people should not have skills unless everyone has that same skill. Otherwise, according to these people, that is considered an inequality. It is unfair. 

It is unfair to them, that someone like Michael Jackson can perform a concert and make a ton of money from it. Yet, in their hypocritical thinking, many of them are the ones who would go to his concerts and by purchasing a ticket, they are actually supporting an economical system they say they don't believe in!

Yes, God gives each person skills and talents. They are to be used for His glory, and to serve one another in the body of Christ. Each person is unique, yet, each person has the same value in God's eyes as everyone else who was created by God. 

We are diverse, yet equal. It is not unfair. God gives gifts to people, and they may vary from one person to the next. God also provides challenges for each person to grow in. Every person has their share of blessings and hardships. They are all given to us by God. 

When we put our trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are under God's umbrella of protection. Whatever happens to us while we are under His protection is for our good and His glory. He gives His grace and help through trials. And we are to use His blessings to point people to Him and to help them to see their need for a Savior.

"Get down from your pedestal!"
Words from a special kind of stupid

Saul Alinski Ideology Coming To Pass In America - Pray

I'm just going to let this picture speak for itself. It gives great insight as to why our country is so strongly going toward the Left.

We need to be praying for our country. We need to be praying for revival in the church. There are many churches out there teaching people how to use God and His word to help them in life's circumstances, but are not teaching people that we are under the wrath of God for our sins, unless we repent and put our trust in God, believing in the atonement Jesus provided on the Cross for us.

A healthy society will not exist unless the church is healthy. Pray for healthy churches, and people in our country to learn the 'fear of the Lord' once again.

Is It Possible For People To Worship The Government?

I hear a lot of talk from those who believe we are entitled to rights to all kinds of things. Some think they have a right to have an abortion, if they want one. Others seem to think that everyone should have a right to health care.

What does God say? He gives us certain privileges and responsibilities. He tells us that 'we are not our own. We are bought with a price'. Also, we will give account to God for everything we do, say, and how we used our resources.

People think they have a right to these things because they don't understand that they are only stewards of what God has blessed them with. We don't actually own anything. Whatever we have comes from God and is to be taken care of and used for His purposes and glory.

What's more, is that these people who think they have a right to whatever they want, expect the government to give them those things.

God's word says that, for those who trust in Jesus Christ and have Him as their Lord, God will provide for those who know Him. God will take care of them.

So, it looks like some are in idolatry here. Could many people be actually worshiping the government instead of the true and living God?

I think so.

I Got Verbally Shot Down And Was Wrongly Accused On Social Media

Recently, I posted something on Facebook concerning an incident where a man was fired for saying that David Hogg was a 'crisis actor'. Well, you would have thought I started a war.

Actually, I did. People shot at me and accused me of spreading lies. Another person told me that what I was doing was sending myself to hell. People got angry. Many were angry at me.

I actually don't have any conclusions on this David Hogg situation. Does it really matter though?

If David Hogg is truly a 'crisis actor', is he committing a crime? Should he be penalized for his action?

I believe there should be more protection for the schools. Maybe the schools could hire some cops. Maybe some older army veterans could walk around the schools. There are things that could be done.

After 9-11, we got smart and now we have great security for our airlines. We protect stadiums and other popular places, but we have failed to make our schools secure. We should have taken notice after Columbine.

The Left is taking advantage of this tragedy. CNN is coaching the students on what they should be saying. They want to make the point clear. We need complete safety for our children.

I agree, and so does everyone else. The question is how are we going to do this? If we make schools a 'gun-free' zone area, then only the intruders will be the ones with guns. Those who would have guns to use for protection will not be allowed to bring them in. That won't work.

The NRA has nothing to do with the tragedy. But the Left are adamant about putting an end to the NRA and blaming them for the incident.

Right now is not the time to solve the mystery of whether David Hoggs is an actor or not. People are in pain with their losses. 17 people will not ever come home again.

I am going to assume, for now, unless I find clear evidence of the opposite, that David Hoggs is just a student. I will take that stand for the sake of the grieving families. We need to pray for these families. May God help them and be with them.

I will assume that David Hoggs is a student. However, I do have some suspicions about things in this situation. It seems kind of strange that he was already an anti-gun advocate before this tragedy happened. He had already been on CNN and is training to be a journalist. So it is kind of interesting that this shooting would happen at a school where there is a student who has connections with CNN and had already been outspoken against guns. But I will still believe the best about him, unless I hear otherwise.

The Talented, Skilled, Healthy, Prosperous People Are Bullies

So let me see if I understand this correctly. If someone is endowed with a talent, skill, or career, that person is, by default, a bully? A racist, maybe?

What kind of logic is this? I understand a little about Yin/Yang, and wonder if there is a connection. Yin/Yang is a belief system that says that everything is equal or balalnced, if I understand correctly. If that principle is involved in this type of thinking, then for every person who is privileged, there will be a person who has no privileges.

Since America is such a prosperous nation, compared to other nations, then the only way for the other nations to become prosperous is for America to step down and not be so prosperous. Then other nations will come up and it will be balanced.

But what if God gives blessing and prosperity to an individual? What happens next? The Enemy of our souls will use the kind of logic I just wrote about and people will think it is unfair. Of course, the Left generally doesn't believe or trust in God, so they think the unfairness is due to natural causes instead.

So, for whatever reason of Donald Trump's good health report, the Left is angry once more. It's not fair. After all, Hillary got very sick during the campaign and her health was in question.

So much for the wishful thinking that Donald Trump is mentally ill or unfit physically for being president.

I wonder what it was that the president did to get such a good health report anyway? By the way, I am not convinced that he drinks Diet Cokes and eats McDonalds all the time. That's probably wishful thinking on the part of the Left to try to construct a story to disqualify the President's ability to be in office because of his poor health that would result from such a diet.

But whatever the reason for his strong stamina and clean bill of health, many will see this as more evidence that he is a bully. May God give him continued strength and health and wisdom in leading out country for the next 3-7 years.

Separating The Truth From The Lies

The Bible talks about our need to become skilled in separating the truth from the lies. It is connected with the skill of discernment.

"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."

Several years ago now, there was an episode that happened in the family of churches we are part of. At the top of this body, there were a few leaders, and there was some disagreements that one of the leaders had with the others. They seemed to be going in different directions. So, this disgruntled leader got out of the ministry and then turned on the main leader of this family of churches. What happened after this was amazingly destructive.

  The disgruntled leader made up a case against the main leader and spread this story all around. Articles were written and sent to the Huffington Post as well as other mainstream media formats. This former leader joined Facebook and collected thousands of Facebook 'friends' to whom he would tell his sad story to and gain sympathy from.

  Years later, the ministry was, for the most part, destroyed. What was interesting was to read the slanderous comments this former angry leader would write on his blog and post to Facebook, and the comments that would come in. People who probably had no idea who this main leader was, who was being attacked, would make comments like, 'this man is the most evil person who ever lived on this planet'.

Yes, we don't understand how a man who seemed to love the Lord can respond to life like this. But this shows how a heart of bitterness operates and what we become like when we allow jealousy and bitterness to grow in our hearts. Left unchecked, we will put ourselves in a prison of bitterness and probably never even see that we are bitter.

Fast forward to our present day. We have two main groups of people who think completely opposite in the political realm. We have one group totally and completely ruled by envy and anger (as well as hate). The tool they use is lies, and much like the scenario above, they make up their own stories to try to accomplish the goal of ousting a man who presides over our country.

  I understand why there are two sides to every situation. In the spiritual realm, there are two sides; evil and good. Whenever good comes in, evil gets displaced. Whenever truth gets exposed, the lies come to the forefront. People who love evil get angry when evil is exposed. Their secret hidden works are coming to light and they are not only unhappy, but are also full of vengeful anger.

  What puzzles me though, are those who claim to know the Lord Jesus Christ, who side with the slanderer. In both the church situation and the political one, there has been a group of professing Christians who side with the group that is in error. 

  God calls us to be discerning. For us to listen to just one side of the situation and not listen to the whole story is not using wisdom. We have to look at the whole picture and then take what is true, and be discerning.

  In both the church case and the political one, there is one side that is lying. Are we so weak in our spiritual lives that we can't tell which side is lying? Or, are we so proud and arrogant that we will side with the one we want to side with, and when the lies are exposed, we will continue to hold to that side because we don't want to admit that we made a mistake when we originally picked the side we decided to join with and fight for?

We need discernment!

Anti-Trump Anthropologist Comments On Trump's Values Voter Summit 2017

I read an article in Rush Limbaugh's letter that he sends out to subscribers, so I did a search and found the article he was referring to.

You might find this interesting. This article was written by a man who hates Donald Trump with a vicious passion. Yet, he has a little bit of insight as to what this civil war is about that is going on in our country today.

I am not going to reprint the whole article, but will take excerpts from it and comment. You can find the article at http://www.kansascity.com/opinion/readers-opinion/guest-commentary/article181300286.html

Another point of this article is that it shows that if we already have our biases and prejudices settled in our minds, no amount of reasoning or logic will appeal to us to change our minds about the thing we disdain so much.

The man, Robert Leonard, was asked to watch Trump's Values Voters Summit 2017. He reluctantly watched it and made some observations, which included his understanding of how rural conservatives view Democrats.

Instead of watching it though, he read a copy of the transcript and added his own comments. You can find the transcript here https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-2017-values-voter-summit/

He took excerpts from the transcript and added his comments to them. Here is some of what he wrote:

*Trump began by saying we are a nation of believers and that “together we are strengthened and sustained by the power of prayer.” Democrats want prayer out of the public sphere.

*Trump called the Las Vegas shooting a “horrific mass murder” and an “act of pure evil.” Democrats blame the guns and want to take yours away.

*Trump honored the heroes of Las Vegas, including the police officers and other first responders. Democrats elevate thugs and view our protectors in blue with disdain.

*Trump quotes scripture. Democrats ridicule those who do.

*Trump stresses unity. Democrats divide American society into victims and oppressors.

*Trump says, “We love our country.” Obama went on an international apology tour.

*Trump says, “We cherish the sacred dignity of every human life.” Democrats murder babies.

*Trump says, “We believe in strong families.” Democratic policies pull them apart.

*Trump says, “We are proud of our history.” Democrats tear down monuments.

*Trump says, “We respect our great American flag.” Democrats take a knee.

Even after all this observation, this man, Robert Leonard, is still a vicious Trump hater. Do not be surprised when you read the article of what this man really thinks about Trump. 

The point is, the observations are very accurate. Years ago, the Democratic party was more involved in helping the community more and the party itself probably wasn't Leftist as it is today. Things changed over the years. There was a recent time when the Democrats took God out of the picture. They lean toward building a big government and taking away the rights of the people. Do not believe them when they pretend to offer help to the poor. It is a bribe to get the votes from those who live in poverty (and will stay in poverty as long as the Democrats are in control).

Robert Leonard thinks the transcripts of the speech show brilliance. He says that if Obama gave a speech like that, he would have been applauded. 

The Democrats seem to see what is going on. But will that change their minds? I doubt it. It is a heart issue, and right now, before our country turns communist, those in charge on the Left will take away boundaries so that people can be 'free'. They promise them freedom, but that kind of freedom will ultimately result in bondage and much heartache. 

They want sexual freedom. No restraints. They want to kill or destroy anything that gets in the way of what they want. They want freedom at everyone else's expense. If they have their way, society, as we know it today, will be destroyed. It will implode upon itself. God will intervene and society will crumble. 

That's why we need to pray for the church and pray for the country.