Restoring Fellowship with God

Stewart Hamblin begins his hymn, It Is No Secret, with the words, “The chimes of time ring out the news; Another day is through.  Someone slipped and fell.  Was that someone you?”

Well, it was me.  Sometimes it seems like, despite my best intentions, it is hard to keep from sinning.  Whether it’s a curse uttered in aggravation, a hateful thought about someone, or watching a violent and “soft-core” pornographic program on television, the old sinful nature seems to bubble up … and sin happens.

If we say that we have no sin,

 we are deceiving ourselves

 and the truth is not in us.

(1John 1:8 NASB)*

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(Romans 3:23 NASB)*

I could never hope to live as righteously as the Apostle Paul did, and he also suffered a great deal for the Lord.  He met opposition almost everywhere he went.  Many times, he was in danger of losing his life.  He describes his experiences as follows:

… but in everything commending ourselves as servants of God,

in much endurance, in afflictions, in hardships, in distresses,

in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors,

in sleeplessness, in hunger, in purity, in knowledge,

in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love,

in the word of truth, in the power of God;

by the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left,

by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report;

regarded as deceivers and yet true; as unknown yet well-known,

as dying yet behold, we live; as punished yet not put to death,

as sorrowful yet always rejoicing, as poor yet making many rich,

 as having nothing yet possessing all things.

(2Corinthians 6: 4-10 NASB)*

 If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more:

circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel,

of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews;

as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church;

as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless.

But whatever things were gain to me,

those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

More than that, I count all things to be loss

in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,

for whom I have suffered the loss of all things,

and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,

(Philippians 3: 4-8 NASB)*

Yet, even the Apostle Paul acknowledged that he, too, was a sinner:

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance,

that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,

among whom I am foremost of all.

(1Timothy 1:15 NASB)*

My old sinful nature,too, lives on in me, and the desire to please my sinful human nature is in conflict with my new nature in Christ, which desires to please God.  Paul described it this way:

For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,

but I see a different law in the members of my body,

waging war against the law of my mind

and making me a prisoner of the law of sin

which is in my members.

Wretched man that I am!

Who will set me free from the body of this death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, on the one hand

 I myself with my mind am serving the law of God,

but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

(Romans 7:22-25 NASB)*

Christians sin, and when they do they fall out of fellowship with God:

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness,

we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light

as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another,

and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

 (1John 1:6-7 NASB)*

Sin interferes with the Christian’s relationship (not union) with God.  The Holy Spirit within us grieves when we fall short. (Ephesians 4:30)

When a person is saved, they become a part of the body of Christ.  The Holy Spirit lives in us, and Jesus is in us.  Jesus taught that He is in the Father, and the Father is in Him, and He is in us. (John 14:20) We have a blessed union with God, if we are truly saved, that God will not allow sin to destroy. (John 10:29)

When I sin, I find that I long for the intimate relationship with God, which has been interfered with.  My fellowship with other believers becomes inauthentic as well.  Therefore, I become motivated to put things right.  I am prompted by the Holy Spirit to turn away (repent) from my sin and give it up.  Repentance is the first step toward restoration, and it is one of the first things Jesus taught when he came back from wandering in the desert. (Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15)

If I then confess my sin with a contrite heart, God has promised His forgiveness, and I have faith that I am forgiven:

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves

and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins

 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

(1John 1:8-9 NASB)*

I am, then, only obligated to go forward in the faith that I have been restored to fellowship with God.  If I sin in ignorance, or if I forget to confess something, I have the assurance that Christ died once for all sin, and that I am forgiven. (1 Peter 3:18)

I will close with an admonition.  I am not advocating “cheap grace.”  A true Christian does not willfully disobey God, or willfully continue in sin. We live under a commandment:

This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ …

(1John 3:23 NASB)*

“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved …”

(Acts 16:31 NASB)*

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

(John 3:16 NASB)* 

If we stop believing in Jesus, we commit apostacy.  Willfully continuing in sin hardens the heart, which is a high road to apostacy. John the Apostle said that, for the Christian, there is sin that does not lead to death (that is that can be forgiven), but there is a sin that leads to death (forsaking the Lord). (1John 5:16) You must believe in Jesus to be saved.

In Hebrews we find:

It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened,

 who have tasted the heavenly gift,

 who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

who have tasted the goodness of the word of God

 and the powers of the coming age

and who have fallen away,

to be brought back to repentance.

 To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over

 again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Land that drinks in the rain often falling on it

 and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed

 receives the blessing of God.

But land that produces thorns and thistles

 is worthless and is in danger of being cursed.

 In the end it will be burned.

(Hebrews 6: 4-8 NASB)*

Peter said the same thing about false teachers:

If they have escaped the corruption of the world

 by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

 and are again entangled in it and are overcome,

 they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

It would have been better for them

 not to have known the way of righteousness,

 than to have known it

 and then to turn their backs on the sacred command

 that was passed on to them.

Of them the proverbs are true:

 “A dog returns to its vomit,” and,

 “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

(2 Peter 2:20-22 NASB)*

John declares such folk to be antichrists who never were true Christians in the first place. (1 John 2:18-19) John also says that true Christians obey His commands and walk as Jesus did. (1 John 2:3-6)

Okay then, I am not perfect, but I am forgiven.  I can’t go on sinning willfully just because forgiveness is available to me.  If I do, such willful sinning will ultimately end in death by causing me to become apostate. I know this to be true because it almost happened to me.  I am a work in progress until I go to be with the Lord.  Praise be to God, who has delivered me!  Please believe in Jesus and spend eternity with us in His presence.

* https://www.biblestudytools.com/nas/ 

Guns and School Safety

Guns

Each time there is any mass murder, the national debate about gun control and school security starts up again.  It is a natural and logical consequence of a tragedy like the recent atrocity at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.  There is no way to make sense of the brutality and inhumanity involved in that incident.  We all want to do what we can to try to prevent another school shooting.  Unfortunately, that maybe an unrealistic expectation.

My position has always been that I would support any gun law, short of registration or confiscation, that would have a significant effect on preventing gun violence.  However, without revision, the proposed gun laws and executive orders I know of would only limit the ability of honest, law abiding citizens to defend themselves.

I support President Trump’s move to ban bump stocks for his stated reason; which is that they convert legal weapons into illegal weapons by enabling them to simulate fully automatic fire.  However, he (and others) are talking about prohibiting mentally ill persons from obtaining guns by including mental illness in background checks in some way. That is easier said than done.

First, the basic supposition that people with some degree of mental or emotional disturbance are somehow automatically disposed to be dangerous is erroneous.  Most are not.  In fact, very large numbers of American adults and children are taking medication for things like Anxiety, Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and so on  Are we going to say that people are dangerous because they are getting help from their doctor, and/or have participated in counseling, to assist them cope with the problems of daily living in a society that has become difficult to live in?  Are they dangerous to self and/or others?  Not in most cases.

What is “normal” … or “abnormal?”  Sit and think about that.  We tend to call behavior normal if most people do it.  For example, if most people work, working is considered normal.  Not working is frowned on.  Gauging normalcy by what everybody in a society does is a useful tool.  However, in some cases calling a person’s behavior “abnormal” or “deviant” by comparing it to social norms and values involves a couple of logical fallacies.

If almost all children like peanut butter, can we say that the child who does not is abnormal?  If most Belgians like beer, is the Belgian who doesn’t drink beer any less a Belgian? Reasoning from the many to one individual can be, and often is wrong.  If an entire society practices cannibalism, and a single person objects to it, which is deviant … and on whose values do we base that judgement?  Sometimes social norms and mores are not only wrong, they are immoral.  Can someone then be called abnormal for deviating from them?

So, who is going to be appointed to put you on a database maintained by the government that says you are too dangerous to own a gun because you are mentally ill.  What criteria will “they” use to put you on the list, and what evidence is there that those criteria are predictive with any acceptable degree of scientific certainty?

Will you have due process of law before they put you on the list … or after?  Will there be a way to appeal if you find yourself labeled mentally or emotionally disturbed?  How much would this kind of system cost?  In Canada, an effort to create a data base of long gun owners was abandoned because it cost too much.

There have been cases already in which some veterans and social security recipients have been prevented from buying guns simply because they have their disability checks managed by a representative payee.  Is having help with your finances proof that you’re a danger to society?

If there is a way to identify, at say a 90% level of certainty, that a person is dangerous, I would probably agree to prohibiting persons so labeled from owning firearms. The problem is that, in a mass society like ours, there isn’t a way to identify everyone in the population who is dangerous without mislabeling many others!  We even seem to have problems with identifying people who really are dangerous.  Federal and local law enforcement failed to identify the shooter in Parkland as dangerous, even after concerned citizens reported it and after multiple prior police contacts.  The University of Colorado ignored the professional who was treating the man who killed and wounded people at the Century 16 theater in Aurora, Colorado.  The FBI ignored reports from Russia that the Boston Marathon bombers were dangerous.

Another anti-gun proposal is that “universal” background checks be done.  What does that mean?

In the 2012 elections, the Democrats gained control of both houses the Colorado legislature.  They already had a governor who was a Democrat.  The first thing that they did after they got sworn in was to pass anti-gun laws; one of which required that all transactions where guns changed hands required a background check.  To be charitable, the law may have been intended to require background checks on the sale of guns between private individuals, and to put the squeeze on gun shows.  It was so poorly written, however, that it could have been construed to require a background check any time that guns changed hands.  For instance, if a friend and I were hunting, and I dropped my rifle breaking the scope, it could be a violation for him to lend me his spare rifle to continue hunting, without first obtaining a background check.  It also called into question whether guns could be inherited without a background check.  Laws written by anti-gun nuts never make any sense.

Some have proposed a universal background check that requires the state or federal bureaucracy keep a record of all background checks.  That would be de facto gun registration.  If guns were ever confiscated, the government would know where to start looking.  As the saying goes, “You aren’t paranoid.  They really are out to get you.”  Hey, will paranoia get you on the list of people who are too crazy to own guns?  Oops!

When you retire, money is tight for a while.  It takes a while to reconcile your income with your bills. I took a part-time job in a retail sporting goods store selling guns after I retired.  It didn’t pay much, but the money helped.  We ran background checks by computer on each gun sale, and the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) approved or denied the sale based on whether the buyer had an arrest record.  During the time I worked there, it was not unusual for a sale to be denied.  On a couple of occasions, the police responded to the store to question the buyer, or take them into custody, regarding an active warrant.  If a sale was denied, there was a form the buyer could mail to the CBI appealing the denial.

People try to circumvent background checks.  From time to time customers would attempt “straw sales.”  It is illegal for a person who can buy guns legally to purchase a gun for someone who cannot.  (A parent purchasing a gun intended for supervised use by their minor child is not a straw sale.)  Deciding that a sale is a straw sale, and refusing it, is a judgement call by the seller.  The store where I worked was ethical.  However, it is not always an easy call to make.  Some sellers are more scrupulous than others.

Provided no government records are generated, I support background checks on retail gun sales and on private sales as well.  To thwart straw sales, I support background checks for gifting guns.  I do not support singling out gun shows to run them out of business.  I do not support interference with inheritance.  I do not support making it difficult for law abiding citizens to own guns.

Current law allows the sale of guns to non-citizens who are residing in the United States legally.  When I was selling guns, I complied with the law.  However, I am against selling guns to persons who are not citizens.

School Safety

There are also several proposals being discussed (besides gun control) to improve school safety.  Staff oversight of security was part of my duties for eight months in the military.  I have supervised programs for the supervision of adult legal offenders in community-based programs for about a year and a half, and I worked in a prison for 20 years.  I know some things about security.

I believe that installing metal detectors at all points of entry, with trained staff to monitor the detectors whenever a point of entry is used, would be the best way to use our limited financial resources.  These should be supplemented by monitored surveillance cameras throughout the school.  Students should be required to show picture ID cards when entering the school, and these should be temporarily revoked if a student is suspended or expelled.  Students should be given assigned entry points and their report times should be staggered to prevent bunching up outside the entry points, while they wait to be admitted.

Arming teachers is unwise.  Think back on all the teachers you had in school.  God bless them.  I support the difficult work that they do.  Which ones, however, would you want packing heat in your kids’ schools?  For me, that is not a pretty picture.  Further, many teachers would not be comfortable with handling guns, let alone with shooting somebody.  Generally, teachers must give their full attention to teaching.  There are conflicting demands that they must deal with all the time.  If a teacher is armed, their first responsibility would be to keep track of their gun, and that is not where their attention belongs.

Placing armed, commissioned, certified law officers in the schools is a good idea, with a few qualifiers.  However, it would be expensive.  Over a 20-year career, a full-time employee will cost around a million dollars in pay and benefits.  Naturally, a police officer’s duties would include dealing with crime as well as security, but it would be a temptation to involve the officer with school disciplinary activities.  That would be a misuse of the resource.

Some have advocated for using retired police officers for school security.  While I was still working, I tried teaching a night class in Criminology at a “career college.”  There was a substantial age difference between myself and my students.  I expected more from them than some of the other instructors, and the students used the age difference as an excuse for not wanting to work that hard.  They felt I “forgot what it was like,” “didn’t understand,” and was “out of touch.”  It was partly my fault, too. I expected too much of them.  I had become too hardened by working in a prison.  Older cops can be tough customers.  Also, some might slip into a “Grandpa” role, which would be inappropriate.  The school security officer should not be looking for popularity or acceptance.

It seems that some of the TV network talking heads think all veterans are some sort of ninjas.  In truth, far more military personnel are involved in support activities on active duty, than in combat.  Even in basic training, not all military are required to qualify with firearms.  In times when budgets are tight, many are “familiarized” on the firing range.  For my step-son (Navy), this meant firing one round from an M-16.

I think veterans should get a hiring preference. However, if veterans are utilized as school security officers, they should go through the same training and weapons qualification that any other civilian candidate receives.

Given the time that it takes community law enforcement to respond and deploy, I would like to see armed regular police officers stationed in our schools; public and private. Again, I feel that available funds should be spent on metal detectors, surveillance cameras, and picture ID’s first.

The Problem

The Bible tells us that violence has always been a part of human behavior.  One of the first things that happened after we got kicked out of the Garden of Eden was that a man killed his brother.  Prior to the great flood, people became so violent that God said He wished He had never created us.  The Bible says that the heart of mankind is wicked beyond measure.

The Solution

Violence will continue, and it will keep getting worse … until Jesus Christ establishes His kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.  The only thing that can be done to mitigate sin until then is to bring as many people to the Lord as will come.  When you repent of all sin, including hate and violence, believe that Jesus has saved you, and take up your cross and follow Him in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit; you will be made a new creature.  You will no longer want to please your sinful nature.  You will live to please the Holy Spirit instead.  What would the world be like if everybody did that?  Give yourself to Jesus, right now.

MEMORANDUM

MEMORANDUM

TO:                Republicans in the US Senate &

House of Representatives

FROM:           The Lamplighter

DATE:            March 3, 2018

SUBJECT:     2018 Midterm Elections

Since memoranda seem to draw so much attention in Washington, DC these days, I hope this will get you to focus on what is important:

Midterm elections are decided by voter turnout. The party that gets the most voters to the polls wins.

The Democrats are very motivated to block any progress on conservative issues; and especially legislation that supports President Trump’s agenda.  People have short memories, and they have already forgotten how bad things were under President Obama.  Therefore, they know they must win the upcoming midterm election.

Republicans ... get to work on what is important. Pass major conservative legislation like: repealing Obama care, rebuilding the military and the infrastructure, reducing the national debt, energy independence, etc.  If you don’t, you will not get the voter turnout you need to win in November 2018.  You will, at a minimum, lose control of the Senate, and you will lose your voting majority in the House.

If you lose the midterm election we can kiss any hope we might have of saving the country goodbye.  If an ordinary citizen like myself can see it, why can’t you?

On Billy Graham

My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world.

Billy Graham
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/billy_graham_382921

I look forward to death with great anticipation, to meeting God face to face.

Billy Graham
https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/billy_graham_446552

I was saved while watching a Billy Graham crusade on TV. Thank you, Lord for Billy Graham.  Thank you, Billy for allowing God to work through you for the salvation of so many.

A Fable

There was a rancher who wanted to make some improvements on his place.  A small stream ram through his property, and he decided to build a dam across it to give his cattle a more dependable water supply.

He borrowed a bulldozer from his brother in law and blocked the flow of the stream where it ran between two small hills.  The water backed up and formed a pond.  However, the water soon began to erode the sides of the dam, and it began to wash away.

The rancher tried reinforcing the sides of the dam with gravel and rock, but then the center began to give way.  The rancher to went back to his brother in law and borrowed a backhoe.  He dug a spillway so that some of the water would drain before it got high enough to erode the dam.

Eventually, the dam regulated the flow, and there was enough water for his cattle all year long.  However, the rancher had to supplement the dam with a spillway to get the job done.  The dam could not do the job alone.

Since the end of World War II, the United States has experienced a migration of people, who have entered the country and stayed here illegally.  In Washington, DC our elected officials are debating what to do about it right now.  The liberals are disposed to what amounts to open immigration.  The conservatives only want to allow people to immigrate who have job skills that we need.  As usual, the two sides seem to have trouble finding a middle ground.

President Trump wants to build a wall along the border with Mexico.  Like the rancher’s dam, a wall cannot solve the problem by itself.  People from Mexico, Central America and the Middle East will find a way over, under, around, and through the wall.  Further, many illegal migrants from Asia are smuggled in on ships, and that would not be stopped by a border wall.  The wall would be an impediment to illegal migration and trafficking in humans and drugs, but the wall alone cannot fix the problem.

The only thing that can stop people from migrating into the country illegally is to destroy the incentive for them to do so.  The same thing as true for the importation of illegal drugs.  I am not against building a wall, and I think it would help.  But like the rancher, we need other measures to effectively regulate immigration.

People will keep coming to the United States illegally until we make it impossible for them to work, find housing, educate their children, get medical care, and obtain public assistance (to name a few.)  If they can’t come across the southern border because of the wall, they will come around it by boat, or any other means they can devise.

Estimates of the number of persons living in the United States illegally very.  The figure we hear most often is that there are 11 or 12 million.  Some say that we can’t deport them all. Certainly, a wall will do nothing about the illegal migrants who are already here.  However, if persons living in the United States illegally cannot earn a living, keep a roof over their head, get treatment when they’re sick, send their children to school, get utility hookups, or food stamps, they will go home on their own.  I would even be willing for ICE to buy them bus tickets.

Fellow Americans, the time has come to call, write, and e-mail our elected representatives.  Enough is enough.  If China invaded the United States within just one million soldiers, we would have World War III.  We have been invaded.