TYRANNY of the URGENT by Charles E. Hummel

Have you ever wished for a thirty-hour day? Surely this extra time would relieve the tremendous pressure under which we live. Our lives leave a trail of unfinished tasks. Unanswered letters, unvisited friends, unwritten articles, and unread books haunt quiet moments when we stop to evaluate. We desperately need relief.
But would a thirty-hour day really solve the problem? Wouldn’t we soon be just as frustrated as we are now with our twenty-four allotment? A mother’s work is never finished, and neither is that of any student, teacher, minister, or anyone else we know. Nor will the passage of time help us catch up. Children grow in number and ate to require more of our time. Greater experience in profession and church brings more exacting assignments. So we find ourselves working more and enjoying it less.

********** Jumbled Priorities*********************

When we stop to evaluate, we realize that our dilemma goes deeper than shortage of time; it is basically the problem of priorities. Hard work does not hurt us. We all know what it is to go full speed for long hours, totally involved in an important task. The resulting weariness is matched by a sense of achievement and joy. Not hard work, but doubt and misgiving produce anxiety as we review a month or year and become oppressed by the pile of unfinished tasks. We sense uneasily that we may have failed to do the important. The winds of other people’s demands have driven us onto a reef of frustration. We confess, quite apart from our sins, “We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done.”
Several years ago an experienced cotton mill manager said to me, “Your greatest danger is letting the urgent things crowd out the important.” He didn’t realize how hard his maxim hit. It often returns to haunt and rebuke me by raising the critical problem of priorities.
We live in constant tension between the urgent and the important. The problem is that the important task rarely must be done today, or even this week. Extra hours of prayer and bible study, a visit with that non-Christian friend, careful study of an important book: these projects can wait. But the urgent tasks call for instant action—endless demands, pressure every hour and day.
A man’s house is no longer his castle; it is no longer a place away from the urgent tasks because the telephone breaches the walls with imperious demands. The momentary appeal of these tasks seems irresistible and important, and they devour our energy. But in the light of time’s perspective their deceptive prominence fades; with a sense of loss we recall the important tasks pushed aside. We realize we’ve become slaves to the tyranny of the urgent.

********* Can You Escape? ***********************

Is there any escape from this pattern of living? The answer lies in the life of our Lord. On the night before He died, Jesus made an astonishing claim. In the great prayer of John 17 He said, “I have finished the work which Thou gave me to do.” (v.4)
How could Jesus use the word “finished”? His three-year ministry seemed all too short. A prostitute at Simon’s banquet had found forgiveness and a new life, but many others still walked the street without forgiveness and a new life. For every ten withered muscles that had flexed into health, a hundred remained impotent. Yet on that last night, with many useful tasks undone and urgent human needs unmet, the Lord had peace; He knew He had finished God’s work.
The Gospel records show that Jesus worked hard. After describing a busy day Mark writes, “That evening, at sundown, they brought to Him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered about the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons.” (Mark 1:32-34)
On another occasion the demand of the ill and maimed caused Him to miss supper and to work so late that His disciples thought he was beside Himself. (Mark 3:21) One day after a strenuous teaching session, Jesus and His disciples went out in a boat. Even a storm didn’t awaken Him. (Mark 4:37-38) What a picture of exhaustion.
Yet His life was never feverish; He had time for people. He could spend hours talking to one person, such as the Samaritan woman at the well. His life showed a wonderful balance, a sense of timing. When His brothers wanted Him to go to Judea, he replied, “My time has not yet come.”(John 7:6) Jesus did not ruin His gifts by haste. In “The Discipline and Culture of the Spiritual Life,” A. E. Whiteham observes: “Here in this Man is adequate purpose…inward rest that gives an air of leisure to His crowded life: above all there is in this Man a secret and a power of dealing with the waste-products of life, the waste of pain, disappointment, enmity, death—turning to divine uses the abuses of man, transforming arid places of pain to fruitfulness, triumphing at last in death, and making a short life of thirty years or so, abruptly cut off, to be a ‘finished’ life. We cannot admire the poise and beauty of this human life, and then ignore the things that made it.”

************Wait For Instructions***********************

What was the secret of Jesus’ work? We find a clue following Mark’s account of Jesus’ busy day. Mark observes that “in the morning, a great while before day, He rose and went out to a lonely place, and there He prayed.” (Mark1:35) Here is the secret of Jesus’ life and work for God: He prayerfully waited for His Father’s will day by day in a life of prayer. By this means He warded off the urgent and accomplished the important.
Lazarus’ death illustrates this principle. What could have been more important than the urgent message from Mary and Martha, “Lord, he whom You love is ill”?(John 11:3) John records the Lord’s response in these paradoxical words: “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was.” (vv. 5-6) What was the urgent need? Obviously to prevent the death of this beloved brother. But the important thing from God’s point of view was to raise Lazarus from the dead. So Lazarus was allowed to die. Later Jesus revived him as the sign of His magnificent claim, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me though he die, yet shall he live.” (v.25)
We may wonder why our Lord’s ministry was so short, why it could not have lasted another five or ten years, why so many wretched sufferers were left in their misery. Scripture gives no answer to these questions, and we leave them in the mystery of God’s purposes. But we do know that Jesus’ prayerful waiting for God’s instructions freed Him from the tyranny of the urgent. It gave Him a sense of direction, set a steady pace, and enabled Him to do every task God assigned. And on the last night He could say, “I have finished the work which Thou gave me to do.”

**************Dependence Makes You Free*************


Freedom from the tyranny of the urgent is found in the example and promise of our Lord. At the end of a vigorous debate with the Pharisees in Jerusalem, Jesus said to those who believed in Him: “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free… Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin…So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:31-36)
Many of us have experienced Christ’s deliverance from the penalty of sin. Are we letting Him free us from the tyranny of the urgent? He points the way: “If you continue in My word.” This is the way to freedom. Through prayerful meditation on God’s Word we gain His perspective.
P. T. Forsyth once said, “The worst sin is prayerlessness.” We usually think of murder, adultery, or theft as among the worst. But the root of all sin is self-sufficiency—independence from God. When we fail to wait prayerfully for God’s guidance and strength we are saying, with our actions if not our lips, that we do not need Him. How much of our service is characterized by “Going it alone”?
The opposite of such independence is prayer in which we acknowledge our need of God’s instruction and supply. Concerning a dependent relationship with God, Donald Baillie says: “Jesus lived His life in complete dependence upon God, as we all ought to live our lives. But such dependence does not destroy human personality. Man is never so truly and fully personal as when he is living in complete dependence upon God. This is how personality comes into its own. This is humanity at its most personal.”
Prayerful waiting on God is indispensable to effective service. Like the time-out in a football game, it enables us to catch our breath and fix new strategy. As we wait for directions the Lord frees us from the tyranny of the urgent. He shows the truth about Himself, ourselves, and our tasks. He impresses on our minds the assignments He wants us to undertake. The need itself is not the call; the call must come from God who knows our limitations. “The Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.” (Psalm 103:13-14) It is not God who loads us until we bend or crack with an ulcer, nervous breakdown, heart attack, or stroke. These come from our inner compulsions coupled with the pressure of circumstances.

**** Evaluate **************

The modern businessman recognizes this principle of taking time out for evaluation. When Greenwalt was president of DuPont, He said, "One minute spent in planning saves three or for minutes in execution." Many salesmen have revolutionized their business and multiplied their profits by setting aside Friday afternoon to plan carefully the
major activities for the coming week. If an executive is too busy to stop and plan, he may find himself replaced by another man who takes time to plan. If the Christian is too
busy to stop, take spiritual inventory, and receive his assignments from God, he becomes a slave to the tyranny of the urgent. He may work day and night to achieve much that seems significant to himself and others, but he will not finish the work God has for him to do.
A quiet time of meditation and prayer at the start of a day refocuses our relationship with God. Recommit yourself to His will as you think of the hours that follow. In these unhurried moments list in order of priority the tasks to be done, take into account commitments already made. A competent general always draws up his battle plan
before he engages the enemy; he does not postpone basic decisions until the firing starts. But he is also prepared to change his plans if an emergency demands it. So try to
implement the plans you have made before the days battle against the clock begins. But be open to any emergency interruption or unexpected person who may call. You may also find it necessary to resist the temptation to accept an engagement when the invitation first comes over the telephone. No matter how clear the calendar may look at the moment, ask for a day or two to pray for guidance before committing yourself. Surprisingly the engagement often appears less imperative after the pleading voice has become silent. If you can withstand the urgency of the initial moment, you will be in a better position to weigh the cost and discern whether the task is God's will for you.
In addition to your daily quiet time, set aside one hour a week for spiritual inventory. Write an evaluation of the past, record anything God may be teaching you, and plan
objectives for the future. Also try to reserve most of one day each month for a similar inventory of longer range. Often you will fail. Ironically, the busier you get the
more you need this time of inventory, but the less you seem to be able to take it. You become like the fanatic who, when unsure of his direction, doubles his speed. And
frenetic service for God can become an escape from God. But when you prayerfully take inventory and plan your days, it provides fresh perspective on your work.

************** Continue the effort ***************

Over the years the greatest continuing struggle in the Christian life is the effort to make adequate time for daily waiting on God, weekly inventory, and monthly planning.
Since this time for receiving marching orders is so important, Satan will do everything he can to squeeze it out. Yet we know from experience that only by this means can we escape the tyranny of the urgent. This is how Jesus succeeded. He did not finish all the urgent tasks in Palestine or all the things He would have liked to do. The only alternative to frustration is to be sure that we are doing what God wants. Nothing substitutes for knowing that this day this hour, in this place we are doing the will of the Father. Then and only then can we think of all the other unfinished tasks with equanimity and leave them with God.

Mark's Analysis:  

Why do we need God and his Holy Bible.  If you are putting a puzzle together and somehow the manufacturer put the wrong box top on your puzzle of a 1000 pieces -- it will be a 100 times harder to put together without the correct box top to follow. 

Another example is constructing buildings and skyscrapers – the foundation and cornerstone and keeping things plumb are absolutely critical.  If you mess those up any reasonable person will realize you will have disaster.  Building constructed like that will sink or sag on one side and things will start to crack and people could very easily be injured.  It will quickly be condemned and will either be extremely costly to repair or will be destroyed and totally redone.  Proper planning and procedures and materials and all that could have been avoided.

God wants us to know it’s no different with our lives.  We must and can only build on the foundation Christ has already laid.  Building on any other foundation is like building on sand the Bible says.  They labor in vain who build on any other foundation.  Some people say I’m a good person and don’t steal or kill anyone.  I love my family etc.  That is an analogy of someone building a perfect modular home and then placing it on a beach with no foundation.  It will be swept away by the tide and eventually fall apart because it has no firm foundation.  None of us made this world. We were all born into it and must follow the rules by which it’s governed.  You can fight gravity all you want but it will win every time.  Not even a plane or satellite can stay in orbit forever.  So it goes with our lives.  We either follow the creators rule book and find eternal life or we don’t.  This generation likes to talk about choice, well this choice is a doozie and your eternal destiny depends on it.  Please know and realize that God loves you and wants you to come to him and be saved from pending destruction.  The proof is in the pudding – why else would he have sent his son Jesus to die for our sins if you didn’t love us.  Choose wisely.  Choose life with Christ. 

Love in Christ,

Mark & Caprice

For anyone touched by this letter and feels the need for further instruction or help can contact me anytime.  You can secure your eternal destiny in a moment & become a child of God, but it will take an eternity to get to know him.  Start your journey with God today. The only other option of eternal separation from God and his glory in a place called hell also called the second death – the second death can be avoided by accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior today (that means you surrender your life and possessions to God and allow Him to guide and direct your life from now & forever. It takes complete faith and trust in Jesus.  If you're having doubts I must ask you - what are you holding on to.  You will eventually die and lose everything anyway.  The entire universe is God's anyway.  How can you compare this few years on earth with eternity. 

 

PS.  I cannot finish this letter without making this point – many false teachers speak truth or at least some truth to snare you but then either leave out half the truth and or add a bunch of lies.  Just remember not to judge the real McCoy harshly because there are so many deceivers and false doctrines floating around out there.  What you should note is that to have a counterfeit there must be a real McCoy – no one would counterfeit another counterfeit.  The real McCoy is what you need to seek after - find - and then worship and surrender your life to.  So bottom line is God does exist – he wants you to come to him for salvation and it’s easy, but not cheap (it cost Christ’s shed blood on the cross/death).  And those false preacher giving you only half the message that God is love and leave out the judgment and hell part are feeding you a lie, because WHEN HALF THE TRUTH BECOMES THE WHOLE TRUTH, IT BECOMES AN UNTRUTH.

SEPARATION of CHURCH & STATE (It's True Meaning)

Separation of Church and State
Research by David Barton - 01/2001
In 1947, in the case Everson v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court declared, "The First Amendment has erected a wall between church and state. That wall must be kept high and impregnable. We could not approve the slightest breach." The "separation of church and state" phrase which they invoked, and which has today become so familiar, was taken from an exchange of letters between President Thomas Jefferson and the Baptist Association of Danbury, Connecticut, shortly after Jefferson became President.
The election of Jefferson – America's first Anti-Federalist President – elated many Baptists since that denomination, by-and-large, was also strongly Anti-Federalist. This political disposition of the Baptists was understandable, for from the early settlement of Rhode Island in the 1630s to the time of the federal Constitution in the 1780s, the Baptists had often found themselves suffering from the centralization of power.
Consequently, now having a President who not only had championed the rights of Baptists in Virginia but who also had advocated clear limits on the centralization of government powers, the Danbury Baptists wrote Jefferson a letter of praise on October 7, 1801, telling him:
Among the many millions in America and Europe who rejoice in your election to office, we embrace the first opportunity . . . to express our great satisfaction in your appointment to the Chief Magistracy in the United States. . . . [W]e have reason to believe that America's God has raised you up to fill the Chair of State out of that goodwill which He bears to the millions which you preside over. May God strengthen you for the arduous task which providence and the voice of the people have called you. . . . And may the Lord preserve you safe from every evil and bring you at last to his Heavenly Kingdom through Jesus Christ our Glorious Mediator. [1]
However, in that same letter of congratulations, the Baptists also expressed to Jefferson their grave concern over the entire concept of the First Amendment, including of its guarantee for "the free exercise of religion":
Our sentiments are uniformly on the side of religious liberty: that religion is at all times and places a matter between God and individuals, that no man ought to suffer in name, person, or effects on account of his religious opinions, [and] that the legitimate power of civil government extends no further than to punish the man who works ill to his neighbor. But sir, our constitution of government is not specific. . . . [T]herefore what religious privileges we enjoy (as a minor part of the State) we enjoy as favors granted, and not as inalienable rights. [2]
In short, the inclusion of protection for the "free exercise of religion" in the constitution suggested to the Danbury Baptists that the right of religious expression was government-given (thus alienable) rather than God-given (hence inalienable), and that therefore the government might someday attempt to regulate religious expression. This was a possibility to which they strenuously objected-unless, as they had explained, someone's religious practice caused him to "work ill to his neighbor."
Jefferson understood their concern; it was also his own. In fact, he made numerous declarations about the constitutional inability of the federal government to regulate, restrict, or interfere with religious expression. For example:
[N]o power over the freedom of religion . . . [is] delegated to the United States by the Constitution. Kentucky Resolution, 1798 [3]
In matters of religion, I have considered that its free exercise is placed by the Constitution independent of the powers of the general [federal] government. Second Inaugural Address, 1805 [4]
[O]ur excellent Constitution . . . has not placed our religious rights under the power of any public functionary. Letter to the Methodist Episcopal Church, 1808 [5]
I consider the government of the United States as interdicted [prohibited] by the Constitution from intermeddling with religious institutions . . . or exercises. Letter to Samuel Millar, 1808 [6]
Jefferson believed that the government was to be powerless to interfere with religious expressions for a very simple reason: he had long witnessed the unhealthy tendency of government to encroach upon the free exercise of religion. As he explained to Noah Webster:
It had become an universal and almost uncontroverted position in the several States that the purposes of society do not require a surrender of all our rights to our ordinary governors . . . and which experience has nevertheless proved they [the government] will be constantly encroaching on if submitted to them; that there are also certain fences which experience has proved peculiarly efficacious [effective] against wrong and rarely obstructive of right, which yet the governing powers have ever shown a disposition to weaken and remove. Of the first kind, for instance, is freedom of religion. [7]
Thomas Jefferson had no intention of allowing the government to limit, restrict, regulate, or interfere with public religious practices. He believed, along with the other Founders, that the First Amendment had been enacted only to prevent the federal establishment of a national denomination – a fact he made clear in a letter to fellow-signer of the Declaration of Independence Benjamin Rush:
[T]he clause of the Constitution which, while it secured the freedom of the press, covered also the freedom of religion, had given to the clergy a very favorite hope of obtaining an establishment of a particular form of Christianity through the United States; and as every sect believes its own form the true one, every one perhaps hoped for his own, but especially the Episcopalians and Congregationalists. The returning good sense of our country threatens abortion to their hopes and they believe that any portion of power confided to me will be exerted in opposition to their schemes. And they believe rightly. [8]
Jefferson had committed himself as President to pursuing the purpose of the First Amendment: preventing the "establishment of a particular form of Christianity" by the Episcopalians, Congregationalists, or any other denomination.
Since this was Jefferson's view concerning religious expression, in his short and polite reply to the Danbury Baptists on January 1, 1802, he assured them that they need not fear; that the free exercise of religion would never be interfered with by the federal government. As he explained:
Gentlemen, – The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which you are so good as to express towards me on behalf of the Danbury Baptist Association give me the highest satisfaction. . . . Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God; that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship; that the legislative powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. Adhering to this expression of the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in opposition to his social duties. I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and blessing of the common Father and Creator of man, and tender you for yourselves and your religious association assurances of my high respect and esteem. [9]
Jefferson's reference to "natural rights" invoked an important legal phrase which was part of the rhetoric of that day and which reaffirmed his belief that religious liberties were inalienable rights. While the phrase "natural rights" communicated much to people then, to most citizens today those words mean little.
By definition, "natural rights" included "that which the Books of the Law and the Gospel do contain." [10] That is, "natural rights" incorporated what God Himself had guaranteed to man in the Scriptures. Thus, when Jefferson assured the Baptists that by following their "natural rights" they would violate no social duty, he was affirming to them that the free exercise of religion was their inalienable God-given right and therefore was protected from federal regulation or interference.
So clearly did Jefferson understand the Source of America's inalienable rights that he even doubted whether America could survive if we ever lost that knowledge. He queried:
And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure if we have lost the only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? [11]
Jefferson believed that God, not government, was the Author and Source of our rights and that the government, therefore, was to be prevented from interference with those rights. Very simply, the "fence" of the Webster letter and the "wall" of the Danbury letter were not to limit religious activities in public; rather they were to limit the power of the government to prohibit or interfere with those expressions.
Earlier courts long understood Jefferson's intent. In fact, when Jefferson's letter was invoked by the Supreme Court (only twice prior to the 1947 Everson case – the Reynolds v. United States case in 1878), unlike today's Courts which publish only his eight-word separation phrase, that earlier Court published Jefferson's entire letter and then concluded:
Coming as this does from an acknowledged leader of the advocates of the measure, it [Jefferson's letter] may be accepted almost as an authoritative declaration of the scope and effect of the Amendment thus secured. Congress was deprived of all legislative power over mere [religious] opinion, but was left free to reach actions which were in violation of social duties or subversive of good order. (emphasis added) [12]
That Court then succinctly summarized Jefferson's intent for "separation of church and state":
[T]he rightful purposes of civil government are for its officers to interfere when principles break out into overt acts against peace and good order. In th[is] . . . is found the true distinction between what properly belongs to the church and what to the State. [13]
With this even the Baptists had agreed; for while wanting to see the government prohibited from interfering with or limiting religious activities, they also had declared it a legitimate function of government "to punish the man who works ill to his neighbor."
That Court, therefore, and others (for example, Commonwealth v. Nesbit and Lindenmuller v. The People), identified actions into which – if perpetrated in the name of religion – the government did have legitimate reason to intrude. Those activities included human sacrifice, polygamy, bigamy, concubinage, incest, infanticide, parricide, advocation and promotion of immorality, etc.
Such acts, even if perpetrated in the name of religion, would be stopped by the government since, as the Court had explained, they were "subversive of good order" and were "overt acts against peace." However, the government was never to interfere with traditional religious practices outlined in "the Books of the Law and the Gospel" – whether public prayer, the use of the Scriptures, public acknowledgements of God, etc.
Therefore, if Jefferson's letter is to be used today, let its context be clearly given – as in previous years. Furthermore, earlier Courts had always viewed Jefferson's Danbury letter for just what it was: a personal, private letter to a specific group. There is probably no other instance in America's history where words spoken by a single individual in a private letter – words clearly divorced from their context – have become the sole authorization for a national policy. Finally, Jefferson's Danbury letter should never be invoked as a stand-alone document. A proper analysis of Jefferson's views must include his numerous other statements on the First Amendment.
For example, in addition to his other statements previously noted, Jefferson also declared that the "power to prescribe any religious exercise. . . . must rest with the States" (emphasis added). Nevertheless, the federal courts ignore this succinct declaration and choose rather to misuse his separation phrase to strike down scores of State laws which encourage or facilitate public religious expressions. Such rulings against State laws are a direct violation of the words and intent of the very one from whom the courts claim to derive their policy.
One further note should be made about the now infamous "separation" dogma. The Congressional Records from June 7 to September 25, 1789, record the months of discussions and debates of the ninety Founding Fathers who framed the First Amendment. Significantly, not only was Thomas Jefferson not one of those ninety who framed the First Amendment, but also, during those debates not one of those ninety Framers ever mentioned the phrase "separation of church and state." It seems logical that if this had been the intent for the First Amendment – as is so frequently asserted-then at least one of those ninety who framed the Amendment would have mentioned that phrase; none did.
In summary, the "separation" phrase so frequently invoked today was rarely mentioned by any of the Founders; and even Jefferson's explanation of his phrase is diametrically opposed to the manner in which courts apply it today. "Separation of church and state" currently means almost exactly the opposite of what it originally meant.

Endnotes1. Letter of October 7, 1801, from Danbury (CT) Baptist Association to Thomas Jefferson, from the Thomas Jefferson Papers Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. (Return)2. Id. (Return)3. The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, John P. Foley, editor (New York: Funk & Wagnalls, 1900), p. 977; see also Documents of American History, Henry S. Cummager, editor (NY: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1948), p. 179. (Return)4. Annals of the Congress of the United States (Washington: Gales and Seaton, 1852, Eighth Congress, Second Session, p. 78, March 4, 1805; see also James D. Richardson, A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897 (Published by Authority of Congress, 1899), Vol. I, p. 379, March 4, 1805. (Return)5. Thomas Jefferson, Writings of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Ellery Bergh, editor (Washington D. C.: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association, 1904), Vol. I, p. 379, March 4, 1805. (Return)6. Thomas Jefferson, Memoir, Correspondence, and Miscellanies, From the Papers of Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph, editor (Boston: Gray and Bowen, 1830), Vol. IV, pp. 103-104, to the Rev. Samuel Millar on January 23, 1808. (Return)7. Jefferson, Writings, Vol. VIII, p. 112-113, to Noah Webster on December 4, 1790. (Return)8. Jefferson, Writings, Vol. III, p. 441, to Benjamin Rush on September 23, 1800. (Return)9. Jefferson, Writings, Vol. XVI, pp. 281-282, to the Danbury Baptist Association on January 1, 1802. (Return)10. Richard Hooker, The Works of Richard Hooker (Oxford: University Press, 1845), Vol. I, p. 207. (Return)11. Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia (Philadelphia: Matthew Carey, 1794), Query XVIII, p. 237. (Return)12. Reynolds v. U. S., 98 U. S. 145, 164 (1878). (Return)13. Reynolds at 163. (Return)

Explanation of Grace and Faith & Salvation & more

People seek Relevance – forgetting sometimes that it is truth that gives relevance to relevance, without the truth, relevance becomes irrelevant – the words of Os Guinness.

 

Physical cannot explain it’s own existence. Thus u must invoke the supernatural to explain the physical universe (God). 

 

Intelligent Design is obvious – a dictionary doesn’t come into being by a printing press exploding.  When you see intelligibility you always deduce intelligence.  If you find a watch

You know someone built it.  Our galaxy is so much more amazing that a wrist watch and yet people say it just happened all by itself.  Insanity.  & people say Christians are closed minded.  Those who don’t follow evidence and start their thinking process excluding any possibility of the supernatural are the closed minded.

 

The Historical, social, & individual  struggles of mankind are evidence for God, not against Him.  Read the bible and you’ll see God has done thru Christ all he could do.  Our salvation has been provided for – thru faith each person must take hold of it by their own choice thru faith in what Christ did for them.  Grace stands for (God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense) and Faith stands for (Forsaking ALL I Trust Him).  Eph 2:8-9  Faith receives what Grace provides.

 

Remember we are not saved by works, but we do works because of what Christ did for us.  We work from our salvation not for it.  Faith without works is dead simply means that if we are really saved we will do what Christ said and do good deeds in his name.  Good works follow salvation as sure as night follows day – works don’t save you they are simply the evidence that you were really saved in the first place.      

 

 

How To Live - Guidance from Scripture

Guidance for Christians:

Galatians 2:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  
21I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

Life by the Spirit (Galatians 5)

16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Job 2:10 He said to her, "You're talking like a godless fool. We accept the good that God gives us. Shouldn't we also accept the bad?" Through all this Job's lips did not utter one sinful word.

Proverbs 6: There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him:

17haughty eyes,

a lying tongue,

hands that shed innocent blood,

18a heart that devises wicked schemes,

feet that are quick to rush into evil,

19a false witness who pours out lies

and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers.

Warning Against Adultery: My son, keep your father’s commands
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck. When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you. For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life, keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife. Do not lust in your heart after her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes, for the prostitute reduces you to a loaf of bread, and the adulteress preys upon your very life. Can a man scoop fire into his lap without his clothes being burned? Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched? So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife; no one who touches her will go unpunished.  In Matthew 5:28 Jesus goes even further and says: “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Listening and Doing (Pure & faultless Religion)

James 1:19My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. 21Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does.

26If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. 27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

1 Thessalonians 4: 11Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

1 Timothy 2: 1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Matthew 22: The Greatest Commandment

34Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’^b 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Whose Son Is the Christ?

41While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, 42“What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?”

“The son of David,” they replied.

43He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.”’

45If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 46No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions.
(The Ten Commandments can be found in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5)

HARRY POTTER & a quote from President Lincoln

HARRY POTTER book and movie series

“In the Christian community, Harry Potter has become something of a litmus test,” she said about both sides. ”One of the things I love about the whole Harry Potter phenomenon is that families are getting excited about reading books together.”

Not a Bad Series. One Christian who’s troubled by the Harry Potter debate is Mark Shea, an evangelical who became a Roman Catholic about twenty years ago. Shea recently published an essay, “Harry Potter and the Christian Critics,” on the weblog for First Things magazine. In this brisk essay, Shea confronts every major criticism aimed at the Potter series, including occultism, Gnosticism, irreligion and the death of God, and moral problems (such as Harry’s lying). Shea told the Journal he wrote the essay because “I’ve gotten tired of people talking as though your views on Harry Potter are an article of faith.”

Shea is especially pithy on charges of occultism. He writes,

The simple fact is this: The books are not occultic. Magic is not real, as Rowling repeatedly has had to state to interviewers who ask her if she “believes” in it. The magic of Harry is, as John Granger points out, “incantational,” not “invocational,” exactly like the magic of Gandalf. Born with the talent for magic, Gandalf says the magic words and fire leaps forth from his staff, just as from Harry’s wand. No principalities or powers are invoked in HP. Indeed, if any words are “invocational” they are the prayer to Elbereth and Gilthoniel uttered in Middle Earth. Yet nobody accuses Tolkien of promoting the worship of false gods. That’s because we understand Tolkien’s fictional sub-creation and its rootedness in Christian thought. I suggest Christian critics try to extend Rowling the same charity.

Shea’s essay makes clear that criticism of the Potter series is not limited to evangelical Protestants. Catholic novelist Michael O’Brien is a proponent of the view that the Potter series actually is an elaborate Gnostic myth. Shea counters: “Dumbledore’s consolation to Harry is that ‘it is our choices’—far more than our abilities—that really matter. And Harry’s choices concern, not ‘secret knowledge,’ but deeply human things such as love, mercy, forgiveness, courage, loyalty, and fidelity. None of this is gnostic.”

“It’s very disturbing to me, as a Catholic, to see Catholics not getting it,” Shea told the Journal. Shea believes nevertheless that evangelicals bear some of the responsibility for anti-Potter arguments. “I think there’s a fear of the Incarnation out there,” he said. “If you let characters be what they are, rather than pitchmen for the Four Spiritual Laws, you’re getting off the program.”

What’s the Trouble With Harry? Shea said he too felt some caution when he first heard about the Potter series. “I was a typical parent when the books first came out,” he said, recalling his initial response as, “Another book about witches—great. But I read the first book, and at about three chapters into it I decided that this was nothing to worry about.”

Ten years after Rowling’s first novel appeared, with her last Potter novel completed and the film series trotting along at an efficient pace, Shea said he hopes believers will not only show Christian charity toward the author, but toward one another. He shudders at the thought of how many anti-Potter books have been written by Christians. “People are going to be reading the Potter books in a hundred years,” he said, and when they see anti-Potter books, they’re most likely to ask, “What was that all about?”

— portions from Douglas LeBlanc article at equip.org

Mark’s Analysis:  I loved the books and read and watched them with my kids.  I saw more of the Christian parallels than my kids did. Such as Love is the greatest power in the universe.  Plot to overcome evil one.  The struggles of families, school, games, choices having consequences, overcoming evil, helping friends, honor, trust, giving, revenge, bitterness, hate, greed, etc.  Its all there.  Good vs Evil packed in a great story and great characters.  The way I see it; Those who actually watch it or read it see the good in it.; Neutral people know nothing of it except what they hear and should not make judgment unless they read it themselves.  All others fall into a category I call :Legalistic critics - who have their own agendas ahead of time and don’t really let themselves get into the characters and just enjoy the movies;  they see what they want to see – a bad evil book/movie.  I pity them.    

Abraham Lincoln put it this way:  “If you look the for the bad in mankind, you will surely find it.” 

The Ten Commandments - Mark's Analysis

The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 & Deuteronomy 5)

And God spoke all these words:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

“You shall have no other gods before me.(1)

“You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand [generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.(2)

“You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.(3)

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.(4)

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.(5)

“You shall not murder.(6)

“You shall not commit adultery.(7)

“You shall not steal.(8)

“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.(9)

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”(10)

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

Mark’s Analysis:  When you read the Exodus version and then the Deuteronomy version you realize God had made the event personal for them.  He added their recent exodus out of Egypt experience as a special note on why they should observe the Sabbath day.  God told them to remember and recall what he had done for them recently so they would stay on the correct path and not stray away and start sinning again.  Here are God’s own words: “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!”  

SPECIAL NOTE for those wanting to go deeper into Gods word: 
Just as God told them to look back and remember what he had done for them. When
Jesus finally came in the fullness of time and died on the cross and rose again the 3^rd day these events were pivotal in the history of mankind and Gods plan to restore paradise lost.  Thus the disciples changed to Sabbath from Saturday which God has established back at the creation of the mankind (Adam & Eve) to Sunday in recognition of Jesus supreme greatness and fulfillment of old testament prophecy.  Only an event of this magnitude  God becoming flesh and becoming the ultimate sacrificial lamb of God to buy back spiritual life for all mankind (past, present, & future).  That’s what I call power! I can apprehend such greatness, but I cannot fully comprehend it.  Its beyond the can of mortal man.  Jesus fulfilled the old testament law and we are now under the new covenant sealed and activated by his shed blood and broken body on the cross of Calvary.  The result is that we now live under GRACE not law.  Those who come to Jesus and surrender their lives by faith and trust in who he is and what he did on the cross immediately become a child of God grafted into the seed of Abraham; child of god; part of the kingdom of God destined for eternity with God in the new heaven and new earth.  The Holy Bible says it this way 1 Cor 2: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”—but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.  For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment: “For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. 

The process of How we must learn and grow - there are no short cuts!

When learning and growing in anything physical, mentally, or spiritually we must take it in stages.  Math is a great example – you cannot do advanced math without first learning basic concept like order of operations (multiply & divide before add & subtract)  without basic rules to apply we can go no further in the learning/growing process and expect good results.  If we press on without those rules we end up with error – that error begets another error and so on until down the line you think your progressing and all the while your’re so far off the mark its insane and to make it worse you don’t even realize it because you still hold to the original errors you began with. Suffices to say TRUTH is an important starting point.

Getting back to the correct path –  for instance once you know that Jesus is your savior and you’ve given him your life and are living for God and seeking to build his kingdom/church something happens.  Things like prayer and quiet time and attending church to grow and sharpen each other and work to positively influence the society you live in daily come very naturally.  But to those on the outside looking in – it seems foolish and unpractical.  Why is that?  Its because they never got the basics of Christianity properly explained to them and have not accepted it as their own as a true Christian does.  Talk to someone about calculus who has not even taken basic algebra and they will not follow hardly a word you say.  Not that they could never learn it, but at this point in time they simply are ignorant on that subject.  Even though God has written his law on all mens hearts they need to seek that truth and build on it and apply it to their life if they ever expect to get any reward and benefit from it.  Its like having a car in the garage and never driving it.  God is not far from anyone, but they must seek him and his truth like buried treasure – Jesus said: So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Luke 11). 

So you see we need to progress in life gradually, not all at once. Accepting Jesus as your savior may be an exception to this though because until you get saved you cannot become that New Creation spoken of in the Bible.  It's nonsense to unbeleivers;  Born again; saved; redeemed are all the same thing meaning you repent of your sinful ways and through faith surrender your life to Jesus asking Him to come into your life and be your Lord and Master; It's not blind faith but faith in what Scripture says Christ did for all mankind and proved by the testimony of thousands in Bible and Millions who have come after and still follow him today.  There is so much more I could say about salvation but that is it in a nutshell.   Most things worth having take time and effort including our relationship with God as well as family and friends. Jesus was God himself in the flesh and only had time for a dozen close friends besides his family.  Yes he had hundreds if not thousands of acquaintences and people he ministered to but his close long term relationships were limited as they must be for all of us if we are to do His will and keep our sanity in the process.  Much of the joy in life is not in the having but in the wanting which God places in our hearts and we must respond to. Then and only then do we look back and realize the wanting motivated you toward the goal that put you on the journey that directed your entire life hopefully with God's direction and guidance.  Strangely enough the hard times are as needful as the good times to weave God's plan in our lives.

Have you ever noticed that circumstances good or bad have very little to due with true inner joy and peace.  Emotions on the other hand go way up and down through circumstances of life, but with God the joy and peace remain through them all IF our minds are stayed on Jesus.  He is our only hope and it is a sure statement: we can do nothing without Jesus!  To any non-Christian reading this I realize that statement has little meaning, but to growing Christians its basic and understood clearly.

The Titanic is another analogy I like to use. It's destiny was the bottom of the ocean just like all people are doomed to hell or everlasting separation from God.  The only solution is to change course or get into a life boat (both options referring to Jesus of course).  Lives lived well by human standards but without Jesus salvation is like rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic (ultimately pointless) - things may make you comfortable or look pretty for a while but doom looms on the horizon unless you take action to permanently fix your situation.

Jesus told stories (Parables) to help people of his day relate to truth (Read Acts thru Jude; the Matthew Mark Luke and John; then Genesis thru Malachi; then Revelation which can only be understood in light of the rest of Scripture.

Story of Joseph how it parallels Jesus story of redemption - one of my favorite passages in Scripture in the later part of Genesis.

Liar Lunatic Lord – only options - Many authors have used this analogy and I agree with it.  Your definition of good is critical and the Lunatic category includes anyone who isn't thinking straight and logically;  When Jesus uses the term good when he said "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." If you are a Christian you know the answer that no one can keep the commandments thus we are all doomed unless we repent of our sinful ways & accept the sacrifice Jesus made at the cross of Calvary and ask Him to save us - one way you know when people have done this is that they declare in publicly to friends and family and neighbors.  Public declaration doesn't actually have anything to do with you actually getting saved, but simply is a proof that you have been.  It's like good works in Jesus name.  They don't have anything to do with God's love for you or getting saved yet they are a sign that you actually have been saved.  You say all this can be faked and you would be correct but to what point.  Why live like that and miss the reward at the end which is eternal life with God and wonders untold that go with that.  It doesn't make sense though I agree it does happen.  Judas was a prime example of what not to do.  He could have freely had all that the other disciples took hold of yet he never did.  He physically & emotionally experienced all the same miracles and talks and persecution the other disciples went through yet somehow he never truly repented & surrendered his heart to Jesus.  It should be very sobering to all of us to be sure we don't fall into that category of looking like a follower like Judas yet our hearts being far from Him.  Liar Lunatic Lord argument goes like this:  Jesus without a doubt claimed to be God in the flesh so that being said all mankind must individually make a choice concerning that FACT.  Either Jesus is who He said he was and we must repent and fully surrender our lives to Him and do what He said to do with our lives.  The ONLY!!!!!! other options open to us to believe are that Jesus was a LIAR and was not God and as a result very evil to have lied and decieved mankind; or your last option is that Jesus was a madman or Lunatic and didn't know he was telling an untruth about himself.  You may ask why are those my only options Why can't I just believe he was a good teacher and guru of some sort;  the reason those are NOT OPTIONS you have on the table to believe because LOGIC and Reason dictate against them.  In the prologue I stated that logic and your defintion of good where critical to this arguement.  If Jesus clearly and without question claimed to be God and He did-- then Logic dictates if you beleive he is not god then you cannot simultaneously believe he is a good man or prophet from God.  A real prophet from God and good teacher would not lie about himself.  So you see you cannot have it both ways to comfort your soul.  God doesn't want us to be comfortable or at peace except in our relationship with Him and even there where we are completely unconditionaly loved and saved God expects great things of us and obediance and letting Jesus love flow to the world through us.  We are His hands and feet in this world.
We disobey at our own risk and are held responsible for the influence we have on others during our lifetime -- if that's not sobering I don't know what is.  None of us knows when God will call us to give account -- and this mortal life will end, but it could be this very day - when this mortal life is through may you be found in Jesus our only hope and stay.  John 3

Many copies will give you the original.  Of the 5-6 thousand manuscripts that still exist of the Scriptures obviously we don't have the originals yet through what the experts call tenacity of the texts the original emerges.  What this means is that when you compare copies with other copies the autograph will emerge because not all scribes and copiers made the same mistakes and spelling errors etc.  Thus we can conclude that though none of the manuscripts today are identical by comparing them the meaning and original wording emerge which is what is important; not that we have a memorex tape of what Jesus actually said but that we understand the message.  Even the Bible itself tells us that there are countless talks and miracles done by Jesus that were never written down. But we have what God deemed enough and what mankind would need to have a relationship with God if you want one.  Luke 16:31 says: 'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.'"

All religions and philosophy's believe they have found the truth of man's existence and how to deal with hard questions about the meaning of life and purpose etc.  But if you think about it - logically there can only be one completely true answer.  If I say 1 +1 = 2, and another says 1+1 = 5 we cannot both be correct.  One is truth on which you can build further.  The other is error which will only beget further error no matter how true to additional beliefs are that you add onto it.  Thus the reason Satan sprinkles bits of truth into all his evil schemes and propaganda to keep people from a relationship with Jesus Christ who alone can redeem them.