A Gift from God

COMMENT SUMMARY: No comments were received on this subject.

MY COMMENTS:

To paraphrase dictionary definitions of faith, it is a strong or complete belief or trust in something or someone.  Faith is also described in dictionaries as a strong belief in God, or a system of religious belief, that is based upon spiritual insight rather than proof.

Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe. (Voltaire)

To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible. (Thomas Aquinas)

Faith is different from proof; the latter is human, the former is a Gift from God. (Blaise Pascal)

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I see faith in two categories: spiritual faith and faith in worldly things.  Like it or not, we all have some degree of faith in material things and the ideas of mankind.  When we vote, we are placing our faith in the ideas and programs espoused by a candidate.  We trust that he or she will do in office what they say they will do before they are elected.  We trust that the money we get paid for our work will have value when we exchange it for goods and services; even though our money really is just pieces of paper and base metal. We trust our friends to act in ways that will not hurt us. We swear to uphold the Constitution of the United States because we believe in it and our country.  Sometimes, worldly faith is well placed, and sometimes it is not.

Regarding religious faith, not everything that is portrayed to be of God, or from God, really is.  Some are presenting their faith as a path to world domination.  They are justifying murder, terrorism, and other crimes in the name of God, and they expect God to reward them for it when they get to heaven.

Some kinds of “Christian” faith may not be “the real deal,” as well. People go door to door with a gospel that is not the same as the gospel given to us by the Holy Bible.  The “Word of Faith” movement preachers on TV promote Christianity as a way to get rich or be healed.  Indeed, God does prosper or heal those whom he chooses to, but he is not compelled to do so, and cannot be extorted into it by ‘claiming” His promises. (2Corinthians 12:7-10)  Acts 3:16 says, “… It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through Him that has given complete healing to him …”  Some liberal theologians are even saying that there is more than one way to find God; which is antithetical to what Jesus taught.  These doctrines are condemned in the Holy Bible. (John 14:6, 1 Timothy 6:3-10, Galatians 1:6-9, 2Corinthians 12:7-9) This calls for discernment, and a careful examination of scripture.

I am a layman, not an ordained minister, and I have not been to a theological seminary.  So, I will try to confine my comments on religious faith to what can be supported from the Holy Bible.  As Paul said, “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2Timothy 3:16-17)

The early Christian movement, and the system of belief that came to be known as Christianity, are repeatedly referred to as “the Way” and “the faith” in the New Testament.  Books have been written about faith.  To limit the scope of my comments here, I want to focus on the personal faith that leads to salvation.

Throughout history, people have always sought to know God, to fellowship with Him, to find His favor, and to gain eternal life.  Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7, Luke 11:9) Jesus gave His life so that anyone who believes in Him will be saved. (John 3:16, Romans 10:9) God knew from the beginning who would accept His offer of salvation, and He calls us. (Ephesians 1:11, John 15:16) He provides salvation by grace to those who accept it by believing in His Son. (Romans 10:13, Ephesians 2: 8-9) When the Holy Spirit calls us to God (Ephesians 4:4), and we deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Jesus the Spirit will give us the faith and power to believe in Him. (Mark 8:34, Romans 8:28-30)

After Jesus rose from the dead, Thomas refused to believe it until he saw him.  Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)  The Spirit tells us, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)  Again, He says “We will live by faith, not by sight.” (2Corinthians 5:7) This kind of faith is not something we can work up within ourselves.  “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  (Romans 10:17), and Jesus is the Living Word. (John 1:1-2) Faith is a Gift of God. (Romans 12:3), and it is through Him that we believe. (1Peter 1:21)

It is, then, all God.  If we seek Him, he calls us.  If we yield to His calling, He gives us the faith we need to believe in Jesus, and it is by belief in Jesus that we are saved. Once we are saved, we follow Jesus, and obey him, by that same faith and the leading of the Holy Spirit.  This is a lengthy quote from Romans, Chapter 8, but I can’t do it justice by trying to summarize it:

… Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live according to the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.  The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.  It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.  Those controlled by the sinful mind cannot please God.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.  And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ …

(See also Galatians 5:16-25)

Christianity is not a system of rules and good deeds.  It is a way of living by faith to please God.  The evidence of faith in our lives is righteous living and doing the good deeds that God has prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:8-10, James 2:17-18) By faith we know with certainty that we will spend eternity in complete communion with God.  How are we so certain?  As R.W. Shambach once said, “I know it in my knower.”  That is what faith means to me.

Faith

Everyone has some degree of faith.  When you get out of bed in the morning, you have faith that the floor will support you when you put your feet down.  When you go to bed at night, you believe that that the sun will come up in the morning.  This kind of faith is supported by the repetition of reality.  The floor has always supported you, and the sun has always come up in the morning.  They always have, so it is easy to believe they always will.  Having faith in other things may be more difficult.

QUESTION:  What enables you to have faith?

United We Stand

COMMENT SUMMARY: No comments were received.

MY COMMENT:  It is a temptation not to make disparaging remarks about President Obama’s character because he did not attend Justice Scalia’s funeral.  However, he is an employee of the American people, and as my employee I think it is more appropriate to remark on his job performance.

Every country has a political and a ceremonial head of state.  For example, in Great Britain the prime minister is the political head of state, and Queen Elizabeth II is the ceremonial head of state.  In the Unites States the president wears both hats.

DISCLAIMER:  If the president stayed away from the funeral for security reasons, that is reasonable.  It also reasonable that he would not want to publicly announce that he stayed away for security reasons.  It would give the terrorists and others too much prestige.

The news media gave conflicting reports about the reason President Obama did not attend the funeral.  One report was that he felt it would be turned into a “political football” if he attended.  So, he sent Vice President Biden instead, while paying his personal respects at the viewing.  The other report that I am aware of was that he sent the vice president because he was busy selecting his nominee to be Justice Scalia’s successor.  The prima fascia evidence provides nothing that should have prevented his attendance.

Certainly, there is ample precedent for the vice president to attend funerals of behalf of the president.  However, absenting himself from this type of ceremonial duty seems to be a pattern for Mr. Obama.  He did not attend Margaret Thatcher’s funeral, and no ally has supported the United States more since World War II than Great Britain.  He did not attend a memorial for the fallen in Paris following a mass shooting.  Many of the leaders of the free world participated in that march in Paris, and President Obama’s absence was conspicuous.  Is it any wonder that our friends no longer feel they can count on us for support?

According to Megyn Kelly of Fox News, Mr. Obama’s failure to attend Justice Scalia’s funeral was the first time that the president did not attend the funeral of a justice of the Supreme Court when both were in office.  The Supreme Court is “the highest court in the land,” and the pinnacle of the judicial branch of our government.  President Obama seems to be unable to recognize any authority to be equal to, or greater than himself, and that is one of his greatest failures as a president.

I believe that avoiding Justice Scalia’s funeral, at the very least, gave the appearance of wrong doing.  It also gave conspiracy theorists one more thing to add to their list of suspicions about the circumstances surrounding Justice Scalia’s death.  NOTE: The issue of the National Enquirer on sale at this writing bears the headline, “Scalia Was Murdered.”

Unfortunately, this is one more disappointment to add to a long litany of disappointments in Mr. Obama’s job performance.  His presidency, in my view, is a failed presidency.

Jesus said, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand.” (Matt. 12:25 NIV) President Obama has been called the “Divider in Chief.”  Soon we will be electing a new president.  When you choose who will vote for, please use the ability to bring us together as a nation as one of the criteria in making your selection.

Respect

President Obama did not attend the funeral of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.  He and the First Lady paid their respects by going to the viewing and observing moments of silence beside the casket and Justice Scalia’s portrait.

QUESTION:  How do you feel about that?

"Lest we Forget." (Rudyard Kipling)

COMMENT SUMMARY:  The United States needs enough military strength to project power in situations where our foreign policy involves us in the affairs of other peoples and nations.  We are the target of hostility from abroad, whether deserved or not, and we need to be able to defend ourselves from attack.

MY COMMENT:  I think it is important to decide what we must defend against; and on whose behalf.  Since World War II, the United States has carried the burden of defense for the “free world” and much of the world that is not free.  I think it reasonable to expect our allies and “friends” to assume more of the responsibility for their own defense, or at least to reimburse us for it.  I think that getting support from other nations for the cost to us of their defense should be the first step toward funding our military and intelligence services.

I can’t describe all our national defense needs in detail here.  My view is that we have underestimated the challenges we face.  President Obama was elected with a mandate from the people to reduce our military commitments overseas, and he did; with the complicity of Congress.  Americans want peace, but peace at any cost is shortsighted.

I have training and experience that gives me some insight into military matters.  Although I am not an expert, I have enough general knowledge to provide an informed opinion.

Before the sequester our military was sized to fight small regional conflicts, one at a time.  When the need came to fight in Iraq and Afghanistan at the same time, while troops were still stationed in Europe and South Korea, we had to rob Peter to pay Paul.  The result was that inadequate resources were allocated to both theaters of conflict.

We have done a good job with developing rapid reaction forces and special operations teams that can respond to emergencies around the world.  We have failed to utilize them properly in some cases, and we have been successful in others.  Our standing Army, Navy, Marines and Air force are too small to successfully oppose Russia or China, or both, in a major war or to respond to multiple regional conflicts simultaneously.

Russia and China have historically relied on overwhelming their enemies by numerically superior forces.  Additionally, they have learned from observing us in Iraq that they must improve their technological capabilities, and they have done so.  Our military is too small to fight a large scale war against Russia or China, or both.  They know it, and they are expanding their influence as a result; sometimes by force.  We need a large enough military to provide a credible deterrent that will eliminate the risk that they will start a war on the assumption that we will back down.  That is the high road to World War III.

We have relied on technology to enable our smaller military to defeat a larger force.  We have been somewhat successful, but we have become over-reliant on technology.  We are vulnerable to electromagnetic pulse attack and anti-satellite weapons, which could render our highly technical weapons systems inoperative by neutralizing our computers and satellites.  It is true that some of our systems have been “hardened.”  However, we remain vulnerable to attacks on our technology and to being overwhelmed by numerically superior forces.

Defense spending should correspond to what we need to defend ourselves.  Our government needs to set aside political squabbling and do a sober assessment of our security needs; now and in the foreseeable future.  Sufficient resources must be allocated to give the military the ability to accomplish its mission.  Much has been made of wasteful military spending, and controls should be in place to keep that in check.

There has been, however, a wasteful boom and bust relationship between spending during active hostilities, and spending when hostilities are concluded.  The size of our military was drastically reduced after the world wars.  The result was that we were not prepared to fight when the next war came along.  In the past we have had time to build up our military and deploy it before we were defeated.  Simply put, we can’t do that anymore.  Our modern military must be technologically superior in order to offset the advantage that our enemies have with larger forces, but it must be large enough survive a first strike and still prevail in a world war.

It is wasteful to build our military up, and then tear it down, only to have to build it up again.  It is wasteful to send our war fighters to the Middle East for multiple tours, and then kick them out when we bring them home.  We waste their valuable combat experience, and it is a disgraceful and callous display of ingratitude.

So what is the answer?  It is that we need to spend enough on defense to meet the challenges that we ask our military and intelligence services to meet.

There is another national defense, which does not come from military might or economic superiority.  It comes from behavior as individuals and as a nation that pleases Almighty God.  In his poem “Recessional,” Rudyard Kipling warns against trusting only in military power and forgetting God.  No nation can stand if God withdraws His protection from it.  Historically, the United States has governed itself according to Judeo-Christian values.  Now we are turning away from our historic moorings, and we are following the values of secular humanism, atheism, and personal convenience.  We have rejected the idea of absolute truth, and followed situational ethics.  The decline in our national fortunes is due, more than anything else, to turning our back on the God of the Holy Bible.

National Defense

Defense spending was cut as part of the sequester, which was passed at President Obama’s suggestion because Congress could not agree about spending.  As a result, the size of our military has been drastically reduced.  Some feel that the military is now too small, and that it cannot meet the existing and potential threats to our national security.  This is your chance to let the world know what you think about that?

QUESTION:  How large do you think the military needs to be for our nation to be adequately protected?

A Path to Freedom

COMMENT SUMMARY:  My thanks and gratitude to those who sent their comments about freedom.  They contributed that our freedoms are precious and that we would not want to live in a country that wasn’t free.  We are all lucky to live in the U.S.A.  The importance of passing on an understanding of our freedoms to the next generation was emphasized.

MY COMMENTS:  Freedom is the ability to think, feel, do, and become what you want to if you are able to.  In America, those who founded our country spoke of freedom often and forcefully:

Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! (Patrick Henry)

A man who will not die for freedom deserves neither life nor freedom. (Benjamin Franklin)

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The Declaration of Independence states that the rights of mankind are God given, and the Bill of Rights provides protection for the freedoms enjoyed by American citizens.  In order to prevent people from taking away the freedom of others, Americans elect representatives who establish laws and administer the government according to those laws.  At least, that is how things are supposed to work.

Government exists to protect us from each other. Where government has gone beyond its limits is in deciding to protect us from ourselves. (Ronald Reagan)

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The Swiss have a saying, and I will try to do it justice.  However, I am doing this from memory, so cut me a little slack.  The saying goes:

“Ich bin ein freier Schweizer, und ich tun und lassen, was ich will.”

Loosely translated it means:

“I am a free Swiss, and I do and allow what I please.”

However, laws and cultural norms limit what we are allowed to do, in order that we may have the benefits that come from living in an organized and interdependent society.  In some countries, cultural norms exert stronger influences on what people do than in others.  Likewise, the degree to which freedom is limited by the government varies greatly around the world.  In theory, nobody can make us do anything.  In fact, they can make us pay if we don’t.  Our bodies and the natural world around us also limit our freedom.  You can’t go naked in a blizzard.

Further, we voluntarily limit our freedom in order to maintain interpersonal relationships.  We surrender some of our autonomy in order to stay married, keep our friends, maintain employment, and retain employees. The maintenance of relationships, then, requires some degree of accommodation.

How much freedom are we willing to give up to survive, and what do we do when we hit the limit of what we are willing to give up?  What happens when you have to choose between your freedom and giving up a friend or a spouse?  What will you do when some terrorist puts a gun to your head because he or she doesn’t like your religion?  I stand in awe of the students in Africa and Oregon who said they were Christians knowing they would be killed for it.  God has given us free will, and we can be as free as we choose to be; or dare to be.

If we are to avoid anarchy and lawlessness, we must accept that with freedom comes the responsibility to choose to in ways that do not harm others or violate their rights.  Alfred Adler spoke of developing a sense of social responsibility, and believed it was part of the healthy adult personality.  The study of ethics tells us that our first responsibility is to do no harm.

Unfortunately, it seems that today more and more people recognize no moral authority greater than the self, and we also have to deal with terrorists, tyrants, and other criminals.  As a result, we have to decide as individuals, and as a society how much freedom we are willing to part with in order to be reasonably free from harm.

All I can say from the human standpoint is that, when in doubt, we should go back to the basics.  We must insist on our constitutional rights.  We benefit from living in a nation where the people freely elect those who make the laws. Therefore, we are obligated to obey the law; unless it conflicts with the laws of God or violates our constitutional rights. I do not advocate violent rebellion.  Today, the police and military are well trained and equipped.  Unless the private citizen is equally well trained and equipped, the private citizen will not prevail in an armed conflict with the authorities.  Do not, however, obey unconstitutional laws and regulations or disobey God to please men.  Practice peaceful civil disobedience.

In our personal relationships, it is better to be on good terms with those you interact with, so be flexible. However, we should not accommodate others to the point that we lose our self-respect.  Jesus told us to love others more than ourselves and to treat them the way we would like to be treated.  That is very difficult in our own strength, but with God all things are possible.  Jesus recognized that there would be times when we would need to defend ourselves. So, He also told us to sell our coat and buy a sword if we do not have one.  We have the right to defend against those who attack us or try to harm others.

There is a freedom that we can have which takes precedence over the cares and limitations associated with the freedom we have in this world.  It is the freedom we have when we accept Jesus Christ as our savior.  Before we are saved, we are enslaved by a host of rules that neither I, nor anybody else can keep.  No matter what your background, there are things that we know are wrong.  Yet, we continue to do them.  We fall short of the person that we somehow know that we need to be.  We do it to gain acceptance or status from friends, to get some kind of material gain … or simply because we get a kick out of it.  Regardless of the motive, we can’t make ourselves stop. No matter how much we try to stop in our own strength, we find a way to mess up somehow … because we want to gratify our appetites; our lust, greed, pride, vengeance, and anger.

When we are saved, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in us.  If we surrender to the Holy Spirit’s guidance, He takes away our desire to gratify our old sinful nature.  He gives us a new nature that wants to turn away from our old way of living and to please God.  As long as we are in this world, we are still going to have to contend with sin, but we no longer crave it above the fellowship we now have with God.  If we sin we regret it, and we are unhappy, but praise the Lord, that if we confess our sins He forgives us and restore us to full fellowship with Him.

Everything we do serves a purpose.  What we think or feel, say and do results in good or evil.  When we accept Jesus as our savior, we are given the ability to serve Him through the power and the leading of the Holy Spirit. As we grow in Grace, we become more and more like Him.  We continue to be sanctified until we are called from this life to be with Him.  This is the gospel.  It is the good news that brings joy.  It is true freedom … from slavery to sin and death.