What Really Divides Us?

Consider the miracle of the Bible. Written by 40 writers over a span of 60 generations in 3 languages and yet manages to present a perfectly cohesive unfolding story of redemption. The Bible is excluded from the NYT best seller list because it would always be on top. Over 6 billion Bibles are currently in print in over 2,000 languages. A tiny drop of the overwhelming evidence supporting the truth of the Bible is below.

The Bible was written by men claiming to be speaking for God with the phrase “Thus saith the Lord” appearing over 3,000 times. We have over 24,000 ancient copies of portions of the new testament. The next closest historical document is 643. The Bible accurately reports history down to the exact details. Top secular archeologists report the Bible is the single most accurate and important historical document in their field. It has helped identify countless archeological finds. An astonishing 50,000 plus archeological finds verify the people, places, and events of scripture down to exact details.

Jesus fulfilled over 300 Old Testament prophecies some of which were incredibly detailed. After Jesus death, burial, and resurrection he was seen by at least 552 people over 40 days. His disciples and followers choose to speak on the matter and face horrible executions for refusing to deny his resurrection. How many people do you know that would willingly die a horrible death for something they knew was a lie? They died for the truth. The Bible is alive and continues to shine truth into the hearts of it’s readers today. Those in the world of science are constantly turned back to the Creator.

ASTRONOMY:

• Stars are innumerable, differ in glory, and follow a predictable pattern (Genesis 22:17; Jeremiah 33:22, 1 Corinthians 15:41, Jeremiah 31:35)
• Earth is round, not flat (Isaiah 40:22; Psalm 103:12)
• Earth hangs on nothing (not built on pillars) (Job 26:7)

ANTHROPOLOGY: The Bible claims that all humans are “one blood” descended from one man and one woman (Acts 17:26; 1 Corinthians 15:45; Genesis 3:20). Some nineteenth-century biologists argued that different races descended from lower animals, but today genetics has verified that there is only one human race.

BIOLOGY: The Bible claims that God created animals “after their kind.” Nineteenth-century biologists argued that animals evolved from other, very different animals, but today biology confirms that creatures reproduce within their own kind.

GEOLOGY: The Bible claims that God destroyed the earth and the creatures inhabiting it in the worldwide Flood. Nineteenth-century geologists argued that rock layers and the fossils found in them were formed as sediments were deposited slowly, but today geology confirms that many rock layers were deposited catastrophically, burying fossils within only minutes or hours.

• Water cycle, sea currents, and fountains of the deep (Ecclesiastes 1:7; Isaiah 55:10, Psalm 8:8, Genesis 7:11)

The issue is not the truth of Scripture, but “willful ignorance” (Romans 1:21; 2 Peter 3:5).

A recent 2020 Gallup poll identified that abortion was the issue that most divided liberals from the conservatives. Not only is this a constitutional issue (right to life)-this is an authority issue. Do you believe God’s Word is the ultimate authority and or do you look elsewhere for that authority? What does God consider human life (Jer. 1:5, Job 31:15, Psalm 139:13-16, Ex 20:13). Most divisive issues in this country come down to conflicts with God’s word as authority on any given subject. This is why Christians are viewed as a target that must be squashed or removed to achieve a godless revolution.

Jesus did not promise peace to us now on earth-He brought peace between us and God through his sacrifice on the cross. In fact in Matthew he tells us that the Gospel and His word will divide people. 

Matthew 10:34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person’senemies will be those of his own household. 37…38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Our founding fathers recognized God as the ultimate authority and with many of our country rejecting that-it’s no wonder they reject our founding principles of freedom and liberty. They choose to enslave themselves to another master to their own destruction. When confronted with the uncomfortable truth of the Bible you have to choose to forsake your sin and agree with God or cling to your sin and reject God.  So many want to ride the fence-and claim a different “interpretation” while holding hands with the Bible and the world at the same time.  However, scripture is clear on all the important things we need to know.

2 Peter 1:20 – knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.

I have witnessed many times when people are confronted with what God actually said about a matter-they read it themselves and realize it’s painfully clear. At that moment I have sadly seen them reject God and His word outright because it doesn’t align with their desires and thinking on issues of morality, sexuality, truth, salvation, or daily living. Until Christ returns this is a spiritual war for the truth and we are trying not to eliminate our opponents as they do to us, but to show them the truth that they might be saved.

Famous Quotes:

Budda “I’m still search for the truth” (end of his life)

Mohammed “I am in need of forgiveness”

Jesus: I am the way, the truth, and the life” “It is finished”

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National Judgement

When God Judges A Nation

Deuteronomy 28 outlines in great detail blessings and curses for nations based on their faithfulness to God or lack of. Psalm 33:12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…that was probably true about America at one time, but not currently.

Ezekiel 14: 12-16 And the word of the LORD came to me: ¹³ “Son of man, when a land sins against me by acting faithlessly, and I stretch out my hand against it ….and cut off from it man and beast, ¹⁴ even if these three men, Noah,  Daniel, and Job, were in it, they would deliver but their own lives by  their righteousness, declares the Lord GOD. ^15 16 even if these three men were in it, as I live, declares the Lord GOD, they would deliver neither sons nor daughters. They alone would be delivered, but the land would be desolate.

God may not spare a nation for a few righteous men. God does not promise protection to even the most righteous mens family during judgement on a nation. God’s hand is on those who individually fear him (Acts 10:35) “But in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him”. 

Repentance (2 Chron 7:14) is a key for the people of the land to avert God’s judgement. However-God may not hear those prayers if the land does not repent at the proper time. Jer 22:21 “I spoke to you in your prosperity, but you said, ‘I will not listen.’

God has spoken to America in our prosperity and we have not listened. It may be that Judgement is already here or it’s too late. There are national sins it would seem the nation would need to repent of to avert judgement.

The indictment against America could include

1. Abortion

America is stained with the innocent blood of millions of children. Nations that participated in the national sin of child sacrifice or abortion come to a bad end. The issue of when is a person a person. God tells us when that occurs (Ps 139:13, 22:10, Jer 1:4-5, Luke 1:39-44) and our Nation has rejected God’s eternal unchanging word on the matter. When a political party makes child sacrifice part of it’s national platform that is a scary place to be-simply awaiting God’s judgement.

2. Homosexuality- Not only does the nation tolerate and promote this it is accepted in many American churches. God calls this an abomination and tells us in Romans 1 that he has given people over to it-so we are already being given over to judgement. 

3. The abandonment of the family unit that was instituted by God. 

4. The prevalence of materialism, idolatry, and sexual sin-Our nation shows no signs of repenting of this sin. 

5. A perverted Justice System-Where justice is delayed, not applied, and where those speaking the truth are punished instead. 

Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil

 Isaiah 59:14 – Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter.

These perversions of justice are not forgotten by God, and he will take vengeance against the nation that perverts justice.

6. Violence, lawlessness, and hatred of one other-The riots have demonstrated the lawlessness we now live in, violent crime is escalating, and we just had an election in which the strongest motivating factor to vote for millions was hatred of another person. 

Oftentimes when a nation, people, or city is judged for their sins they were defeated militarily or totally destroyed in some other way. In the case of Nineveh and occasionally Isreal God relented but with Nineveh both their leader and people repented. That is not happening in America today. The Bible tells us that in the end times people will still not repent even as the judgements are poured out upon them. 

I believe the covid response is another grievous national sin as it tells us the things of God are “non essential”. The covid response like abortion dehumanizes people who are made in God’s image (Gen 1:26). Isn’t it interesting the part of the body the Government insists we cover is our face-it’s okay for strippers to perform in parking lots as long as their face is covered. That is quite opposite of when Adam and Eve sinned and they covered their body-not their face.

1: Cor 12:23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty,²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require.

It’s interesting that some orthodox Jews who adhere to the OT set fire to masks in NY City in October as a protest over mask mandates during worship. In their tradition which is rooted in OT scripture it’s not appropriate to read or learn scripture with a mask on, pray with a mask on, or go before kings with a mask on-let alone the King of Kings. (Ex 34:34).

In addition to the spiritual implications of dehumanizing people made in the image of God are many. The Bible sais quite a bit about a person’s face as having a spiritual context and seems to be very much part of being made in God’s image. Countless times we are told to seek God’s face (Psalms 27:8 and 2 Chron 7:14) and in 2 Corinthians 3:18: “But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord”—-Our face is to reflect the Glory of God and it can be said that whoever mistreats the face of another person would be doing the same to the face of God since we are made in his image. An early church father wrote “The image of God is to be found in the face of the saints.”-echoing a common idea that the soul shines thru a persons face.  While the only legitimate instance of social distancing or mask wearing for disease I can find in scripture is in Leviticus for lepers-it nowhere indicates this is for healthy people.Things that cover a person’s face in the Bible1. Shame (Psalm 44:15 -…and shame has covered my face, Psalm 69:7 Dishonor)-Genesis 38:15 – When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face-We are told in Leviticus 19:32 – “You shall …honor the face of an old man…(not cover it)
God hides his face from us individually or as a nation when we sin (Psalm 104:29/Is 59:2) but it is a blessing when he shines his face upon us (Psalm 31:16). Likewise it is a blessing when we shine our face upon others if we are reflecting God’s love. God uses people’s countenance and faces in many ways. 

(Stephen) Acts 6:15  – And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw that his face was like the face of an angel.—-They could not have seen that his face was like the face of an angel if his face was covered-it was a testimony against them

In the NT church they desired to see each other’s face.. 

3 John 14 – I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Acts 20:38 – being sorrowful most of all…they would not see his face again..
In the OT in Ezekiel there is an interesting incident recorded in Ezek 13. In verse 10 it records that the people built a wall symbolizing protection from their enemies and in Ezekiel 13:18 – …Thus says the Lord GOD: Woe to the women who sew magic bands upon all wrists, and make veils for the heads of persons of every stature, in the hunt for souls!

There was a threat to the nation in this passage in the form of the Chaldeans and in the form of God’s judgement. God had told them through the prophets that judgement was certainly coming and I believe in America we are in the same situation. What happened was a people who did not repent sought a false security and hope in this wall they built and in these veils the women gave out. Much like in America, a wall, a vaccine, a mask, or even the military can give us a false sense of security without national repentance. In Ezekiel this false hope was destroying souls and in America-the same thing is happening because we are devoid of repentance. 

Proverbs 28:9 – If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination

Because our nation and our people have turned from God’s word and do not even know God’s word-our prayer for deliverance for our nation is likely an abomination before God. 

One pastor went as far as to say this…Social distancing in the Church of Jesus Christ is tantamount to blasphemous infidelity and an impeachment of the integrity of the word of God, To allow the idol of coronavirus to determine the scope of congregational worship in the house of God is an abomination.  

The sins of America fit Babylon in revelation 18 and whether that’s us or not-we can assume by our national sins that God is storing up judgement for us. We are told in Revelation 18 starting in verse 4-regarding those in Babylon

Revelation 18:4 “Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; 5 for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities

What does it mean to come out of her-lest you take part in her sins? At minimum our conduct is to depart from the conduct of the nation at large. The remainder of Revelation 18 is frightening especially if you consider the possibility that it could describe our future. Secure your soul by trusting in the Lord Jesus who died for the sins whoever would believe in Him. To turn to Jesus you have to turn from your sins and acknowledge that you are a sinner who needs a savior.

Should God’s judgement hit America in anything resembling Revelation 18 hope of eternal life is all we would have left. God always saves a remnant and we can try to be among those survivors (Ezekiel 7:16). However, we are certainly not promised that if God did not spare the old world in Noah’s day saving only 8 souls alive from the flood and would not spare Jerusalem in Ezekiel even in Noah, Job, and Daniel had been found it it. American’s should tremble before God and realize that the God of Love is also a God of Justice. 

Today’s America and Christians plight

Is there enough evidence to convict you of being a follower of Jesus Christ or will the evidence convict you of being a follower of a worldy system that opposes God? Following Christ might get you cancelled, killed, or persecuted. In light of what is happening to America Christians need to be clear about who their allegiance is towards. Are they bowing down to the god of system controlled media, science, or institutions or the God of the Bible? Some very clear lines are being drawn.

Endorsement of the beliefs of the cultural shift in America today is not compatible with Christianity. This dangerous ideology has manifest itself in recent history in Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany, and Communist China. Cultural marxism turns into socialism and finally manifests itself as full blown communism in the end. Those systems and ideas without exception have resulted in Christian persecution every place they have been implemented.

Those systems at their core are atheistic philosophy with no room for belief in the God of the Bible. Karl Marx was clear on this point. In these systems the state becomes the ultimate authority. This is not compatible with Christianity as we hold God and his word as the ultimate authority. Our nation was founded on the principle that God was the ultimate authority-so this movement attempts to undo that. Are men owned by governments or free souls under God?

They demand to control your thinking, beliefs, actions, and decide what’s best for you. Christians should submit themselves to the control of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ”. Our thoughts and beliefs should conform to Christ not the state, system, so called science, media, or the mob. These movements seek to be Christianity without Christ. It’s a counterfeit Christianity. Jesus died in the place of sinful man to pay the penalty for sins for those who believe. These government systems do not want a Savior such as Jesus-they portray themselves as the savior for the problems they create. Either Jesus is Lord or the government system is lord.

Matthew 7:20 “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits”. When a movement becomes lawless and devolves to riots, looting, chants of f— the police, and other such evils those do not flow from God. Those are not fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness). Certain government restrictions cannot come from God when they include criminalizing churches and church goers, outlawing singing and worship, and banning religious gatherings.

Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul And body in hell”. The Bible tells us to fear God not man or a virus. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The message we are being flooded with is fear of everything except the fear of the Lord. The one thing we should actually fear is a holy God who is also just and will punish sin. Is your allegiance to Christ or to the beast of government systems that oppose the one true God?

What are Christians to do in the face of evil government? Some practical application?

Daniel shows us that we obey God over government when conflicts arise. We are already there in America where those conflicts are arising. The books of Nehemiah and Esther show us that we should protect the oppressed, defend homes, families, and communities. We also should take any action possible to thrawt genocide (Esther). The genocide of abortion has killed over 60 million. We may soon face another genocide more visible on God’s people and we should seek to thrawrt that as well. Jesus tells us to give to Caesar what he is due (taxes) but to give to God what he is due (worship and allegiance to his law). If civil mandates rise to the level of conflicting against religious conviction and Biblical instruction we cannot comply with the civil order.

In America we are given even more options-we were given founding documents that gave the people of the nation freedom to alter, reform, or abolish any future action, law, or government that is contrary to the founding documents. We are in such a place today where much of our government is contrary to the founding documents. Nehemiah faced a similar plight and stuck to the original document from the king when provincial rulers opposed his work. Paul and others fled persecution and government. Christians are being forced into conflict with this new system. Some are facing an impasse now-others may still be years before the impasse arrives. When it arrives we must ultimately seek to obey God over government systems. I would urge Christians to read scripture with a heightened level of urgency to better understand how that is to be lived out today.

Relevant Biblical Arguments Against The Covid Response

With so much evil and chaos happening in the world today it’s critical that Christians read and study the Bible so to know truth from error and not be led astray. The Bible is alive and applicable in our world today. What was true in Hosea’s time is true today also.

Hosea 4:6A My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..

Here are a few jumping off points on some current topics 

How is a person saved?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UP5c_kV0Y8

How do we respond to evil governments?

https://underdogsport.wordpress.com/2020/06/16/biblical-response-to-evil-government/

American Christians and Response to Attacks on Religious Freedoms

https://underdogsport.wordpress.com/2020/07/09/todays-america-and-christians-plight/

Is Social Distancing Compatible With Biblical Christianity?

https://underdogsport.wordpress.com/2020/07/18/is-social-distancing-compatible-with-biblical-christianity/

The Real Issue With Masks

https://underdogsport.wordpress.com/2020/07/22/the-real-issue-with-masks/

The New Normal 

https://underdogsport.wordpress.com/2020/07/23/the-new-normal-and-its-not-good/

The New Normal-And It’s Not Good

This is a new America and that’s not a good thing. One nation under God? Not anymore. Land of the free? No. Freedom of speech? Association? Peaceable assembly? No, no, no. We have criminalized the law abiding and innocent. 

Those who deface property are hailed as virtuous. Those who try to stop the property destruction are now charged with ‘hate crime’ laws. White protestors scream racial slurs at black officers they are violently attacking in this upside down world while supposedly protesting racism. We have gun control laws that disarm law abiding citizens while the criminals have no difficulty obtaining their weapons. Rioters can shut down highways without fear of arrest, while commuters trying to escape would be murderers smashing windows and shooting into their vehicles are charged with “assault”. Those defending their homes have their weapons confiscated and are charged with a crime instead of the violent trespassers. 

Dictators brutalize their cities and states. Hordes of activists marching shoulder to shoulder can defy social distancing with gushing praise from left-wing medical “experts,” while anti-lockdown and anti-mask citizens are decried as a public health menace. Citizens who get too close to others or don’t wear a mask face snitch hotlines, fines, house arrest, or jail time. Meanwhile prisoners are released in mass while churchgoers are fined or harrassed for assembling. Citizen militia protecting their communities are labeled racist and extremist.

Churches meetings are banned. Worship is banned. House bible studies are banned. Churches are attacked and set on fire. Ankle bracelets are placed on citizens by contact tracers. Children are traumatically removed from their parents home to go to state isolation centers for weeks because because of possible virus exposure. What is evil is called good and what is good is called evil. 

Isaiah 5:20 – Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness,

Police officials confirm it’s too high of a price to pay to protect innocent law abiding citizens’ constitutional rights due to the horrible consequences of the mob. The same people who champion the killing of countless unborn are touting themselves as “virtuous” for wearing a mask or social distancing. The governor who sent sick people to nursing homes resulting in mass fatalities is being called the “model” response. Next will be vaccines and property seizures. If you don’t take the mandatory vaccine you will be excluded from society. You won’t be able to work, buy, or sell. Then as they attempt to creepily mimic or create the mark of the beast they wonder why people might resist the masks or vaccines as they “cause everyone” to take these measures.

Revelation 16 Also it causes all, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave,^{<a id="gmail-fb5-3" style="background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;" title="For the contextual rendering of the Greek word doulos, see Preface” href=”https://www.esv.org/Revelation+13:16/#f5-“>5} to be marked on the right hand or the forehead, 17 so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is, the name of the beast or the number of its name.

We lost the culture war. In a godless culture they elevate evil over good and the creation rejects the creator. 

2 Timothy 3 But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power

Just as in Isaiah’s time there is no justice in the land. 

Isaiah 59:15b-16a The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede

Neither the citizens nor the police are standing up to the tyranny. If a remnant is spared in North America perhaps it will be those who repent of their sins and seek God.

Romans 3:12 – All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Acts 2:21 – And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

When Government Rewards Evil and Punishes Good