A forgotten verse

  A forgotten verse

In the book of Exodus we read,

"You shall have no other gods before me."

                                                                              Exodus 20:3.

This verse in Exodus is perhaps the most forgotten verse in the Bible here in North America.

North America is full of God’s. God’s even those calling themselves Christians pastors and evangelist, worship false gods. God’s like Materialism, money, political parties and political leaders. 

 In the United States many even put the constitution and the bill of rights ahead of or equal to God. This should not be so.

While Christians in the United states have wonderful freedoms, and the United States constitution and bill of rights are noble documents. They are not equal to the Bible in any way.    AND the Bible never promised Christians any form of rights, within any nation or society on earth.

  If you consider yourself a Christian a true follower of Christ Jesus, you need to look at what you worship. At what you put ahead of God or equal to Him.

They need to do this because Jesus said,

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.  

God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:23-24.

So my questions to you if you claim to be a Christian is;

1/ Do you put anything ahead of God?

2/ Do you truly worship God in Spirit and in truth?

Please think about it.

No other gods

  No other gods

In the book of Exodus we read God as saying,

"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.” Exodus 20:2,3

Billy Graham the late American Evangelist said,

"Make sure of your commitment to Jesus Christ, and seek to follow Him every day. Don't be swayed by the false values and goals of this world, but put Christ and His will first in everything you do." Billy Graham.

As Christians we must heed the words of God in Exodus. It is absolute. Anything we put ahead of God, is a god, be it a person an organization or thing. This should not be.

The writer of Hebrews states,

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" Hebrews 12:2.

Jesus paid an horrific price for us. Jesus showed how far God would go in human terms to show us the way to heaven. We should never forget that.

Thus I would ask you the question; If you are truly a Christian, a follower of Christ Jesus do you put anything before Christ?

Please think about it.

Akin to mixing Christianity and Atheism

Akin to mixing Christianity with Atheism
The book of Exodus records God as saying,
"You shall have no other gods before me. 
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.” Exodus 20:3-6.
This is a commandment from God whether they realize it or not many Christians particularly here in North America where I live, break this commandment all the time.
   Anything that comes before God is an idol. Anything that is placed on an equal plain to God is an idol. That not only includes some of the obvious things like possessions and money. But other less obvious things like Political and religious leaders, and political parties.
Here in North America and more so in the United States than in Canada people calling themselves Christians are mixing their religion and their faith. They are quite often without realizing it saying one party is “more Christian” than another.
The Christian faith even in a free and democratic society in which we in the west live should vote, but we should never be mix our faith in anyway with politics. We must follow the examples of Christ and the apostles who never took sides politically.
Our job is to evangelize, not play politics.
By taking political sides we dilute our faith. It is akin to mixing our faith with atheism. There are politicians of all different stripes that are Christians. Thus saying one political party is for God is wrong.
We are called by God Himself to,
“You shall have no other gods before me. 
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.” Exodus 20:3-6.
If you love God. If you truly believe in Christ Jesus. Then you should not as I said, placing, politics, possessions, or anything else ahead of God.
Thus my questions to you.
If you claim to be a Christian are you putting anything ahead of God?
Are there any idols in your life?
Please think about it.

Evangelical or Political?

Evangelical or Political?
Jesus said,
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20.
I attend a small evangelical church. That does a lot of good. It reaches out to the poor and those living on the street with the love of Jesus. We do what many other churches do and should do.
That being said are churches in 2019 truly evangelical?
It is a sad fact that the evangelical movement in particular are known for what they are against. In the United States many evangelicals have started to mix their faith with their politics. This is something Jesus and his disciples never did.
As I have said in previous blogs, mixing politics and religion is like mixing gasoline and water. The water is undrinkable the gasoline unusable and the whole mixture explosive.
Sadly because many evangelicals mix their politics and faith it turns people away from Christ.
It is not the job of the Christian, a true believer in Christ Jesus to support a politician or political party. To do so I believe is to put a millstone around ones neck. Making it very difficult to present the gospel message.
The job of the Christian is to present the gospel message to those around us. We cannot do this if politics or for that matter any other earthly thing gets in the way.
In my previous blog post I quoted the apostle Paul who writing to Timothy said,
"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” 2Timothy 2:15.
If we do this we will win more souls for Christ than we ever could supporting a politician or political party. Which is what we are called to do.
Please think about it.

Christians and Democracy

Christians and Democracy
“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12.
While in Church the other day I met a man who said, “pray that President Trump”
I wasn’t surprised it was an evangelical church and many evangelicals support Trump. Also Christians should be praying for their political and religious leaders.
That being said I think what is happening in the United States at this time can serve as a lesson to Christians on how to vote world wide.
Many evangelicals in North America believe Canada and the United States have governments that are Christian based. Truth is Canada and the United States unlike England, Israel and the Arab nations have no official state religion.
While there are scripture verses carved into buildings and the ten commandments are displayed in some court houses this is more of a cultural thing dating back to the birth of the two nations.
True many of our laws here in North America are based on Jewish and Christian principles but not all are.
Also having Bible verses on buildings and laws based on Biblical principles do not make nations Christian.
The fact is we in North America live in secular democracies. While many people serving in government may go to church they are not necessarily Christian. Churches in North America have a large number of people who are not Christian. They go for many reasons, tradition, to feel good, even to look good for the evangelical voters.
Still this is a good thing, that politicians or anyone for that matter attend church as that is where they can best come into a personal relationship with God.
Now all of that being said what is a Christian to do in a secular democracy?
Keep in mind that in a secular democracy such as exists in North America we will not find a politician that lines up perfectly with what we believe. They will vote for things we as Christians disagree with.
Still I believe Christians must look at the lives of each person running for political office. Jesus referring to false prophets said something that can be applied to politicians as well. He said,
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.  
By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles?  
Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.  A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.” Matthew 7:15-18.
Simply put in terms of a politician or for that matter anyone. You will know what the person is like by their words and deeds.
When it comes to whom you should vote for there are several Christian principles that we must look for.
1/“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets” Matthew 7:12.
We must look at the actions of the candidate and see what they truly stand for. Are they passing legislation that they would want imposed on themselves?
To use the American example again. Would those who are wishing to repeal the affordable care act in the United States and cut millions off health care want their health care removed, especially if they couldn’t afford paying for health care out of their own pocket?
A person seeking political office should never impose things on others that they would not want imposed on themselves.
2/ Jesus when asked,
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  
This is the first and greatest commandment.  
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  
All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40.
Ideally in an election this would mean supporting a candidate that is a Christian. One who love God and loves his or her neighbour unconditionally.
However in some places where there are no true Christian candidates running one needs to look to a person who by their actions shows unconditional love at the very least to their neighbour no matter who they are, their lifestyle, or what they believe. A candidate who shows genuine love for both rich and poor.
3/ The apostle John states,
         “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 1 John 3:17.
We need to be supporting political candidates that seek to help the poor. For an elected official to help the poor costs them personally nothing. As elected officials they have the right to spend tax payers money and what better way to spend tax payers money than directly on tax payers and especially the most needy in our society?
James the half brother of Jesus writes,
“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?  
Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food.  
If one of you says to him, “Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?  
In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. 
But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.  
You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder. 
You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?” James 2:14-20.
Tony Campolo the American Evangelist states,
“These issues are biblical issues: to care for the sick, to feed the hungry, to stand up for the oppressed. I contend that if the evangelical community became more biblical, everything would change.” Tony Campolo
I personally believe it is time for everyone who considers themselves a Christian living in a democracy such as we live in here in North America, to ask the question,
“Which candidate seeking my vote is by his or her actions truly exhibiting true Christian principles whether they are Christians or not?
Please think about it.