Salt and Light Blog

Last night I presented this question to my social media followers and blog email list:

“What does the Bible think about social issues? Is it inclusive and welcoming? Is it concerned with limiting its ability to attract young people and others, including many women, who agree with the Bible on some but not all issues?”

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Moral courage seems to be in short supply these days, particularly in Washington, D.C. The Republican-controlled House of Representatives is set to vote on increasing the debt limit as early as today. I’ve read any number of pragmatic opinion pieces on why the Republicans have no choice but to raise the limit.

Of course they have a choice. It isn’t a matter of choice, it’s a matter of courage.

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So once again we are watching the circus live and in color on our television sets. The stage? Congress and the White House and the looming fiscal cliff. It is amazing to see after what was called the most important election of our lifetime that nothing has changed in Washington D.C. All the old leaders are the new leaders and you could not fill a bus up with those serving who are righteous in the sight of God. It reminds me of the old Rolling Stones song “We Won’t Get Fooled Again” where it ends with “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

I was asked by some, and accused by others, if I was looking for perfection in a candidate. My answer to both is I am looking for righteousness in our public servants. Those, whether or not they are Christians, who have a sense of responsibility to their electorate and more important to “the laws of nature and nature’s God.” As my buddy Steve Deace always says, “We want people of convictions, not positions.”

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Glory to God, for He is on His throne! Jesus is King, Lord, and Savior to all who call to Him for salvation. America is today still the greatest nation in history and I praise God for being born an American. No matter the outcome of our elections throughout history, the peaceful transition of power is a God-breathed miracle captured by godly men who founded our nation. They were God-fearing men who recognized and relied upon the Providence of God.

Our nation is truly at a crossroads. The political outcome of yesterday’s election is a reflection…a symptom…of what ails our great country. Over half of our country clearly has an entitlement mentality where they believe by merely being Americans who may or may not have been dealt a bad hand that they are entitled to other people’s money. Beloved, that is a clear indication of a deeper issue that must be addressed.

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I am truly a blessed man. The many great men God has place in my life to sharpen me as iron sharpens iron is one of the great benefits of the blessed life in Christ.

One such man is my dear brother-in-Christ Dr. Rod D. Martin. Rod has been a great encourager of mine for over 5 years and gave me my start here at Salt and Light through he and his precious wife Sherri’s sponsoring of this blog. Rod saw the vision for it long before I did.

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I have the honor of corresponding with Dr. Alan Keyes who has over the past couple of years gave me counsel and encouragement on occasion. I never miss his Friday columns on World Net Daily and visit his blog Loyal to Liberty often.

I struggled with writing yesterday’s devotional because I knew I was missing the mark on what I was trying to explain. Alan responded to my devotional and has wonderfully written of what I was only beginning to figure out. Without understanding it, it was the imperfection of which Alan writes that I was trying to allude. Alan has given me permission to publish his response.

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That’s the topic of this week’s The Truth Newsletter. It seems that we can not only break God’s 6th Commandment, “You shall not murder,” but we can also disobey God’s 8th Commandment, “You shall not steal.” You can do these things if America’s survival is at stake. At least that is what I am being told by Christians and a Tea Party Leader.

I obviously have a very strong opinion about this that most of you could probably state verbatim. However, my opinion in and of itself means nothing if it is not grounded in Biblical truth. God’s 2nd Commandment is the second longest of the ten and I think it is most overlooked by American Christians. I know for me it is the commandment hardest for me to keep because I allow so many things in this world to become an idol. Here’s what God wrote:

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Since Thursday’s Supreme Court ruling on ObamaCare, I have seen all manner of exposition and explanation for why Chief Justice John Roberts’ ruling was brilliant. I have been asked if I want conservative judges, oppose liberal judges, want those that are Republican, and oppose those that are Democrats. Do I want originalists and oppose activists.

I take none of the above.

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If you must take a stand for God, you must expect persecution to come. You cannot stand on the truth of God’s Word and all around you accept it peacefully, unless you are doing so in a “Christian ghetto” and even there pure aletheia truth is not always welcomed. And yet we do not have a choice of where we will stand for God; we can only choose to obey or disobey. David understood this calling very clearly.

“I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness in the great assembly; indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O Lord, You Yourself know. I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.” (Psalm 40:9-10)

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Did you know that as a believer in Jesus Christ God has entrusted you with something so valuable that it is priceless? Its value is beyond measure and it is not for sale. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In Ephesians 3, Paul describes his ministry to the Gentiles as containing “the unsearchable riches of Christ.” Paul so loved the gospel that he would not receive money for preaching it. His reward was in knowing that he was faithful in his stewardship to preaching the gospel:

“But I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void. For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! For if I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have been entrusted with a stewardship. What is my reward then? That when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel of Christ without charge, that I may not abuse my authority in the gospel.” (1 Corinthians 9:15-18)

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Two weeks from today Iowa Republicans will caucus and choose their presidential candidate for November 2012. As Christians, we are to be good citizens and should vote for the candidate that best aligns with our Biblical worldview. With that being said, we Christians must remember that while we live in America and are citizens by birth, we are actually citizens of heaven by rebirth in Christ. If we will look to the future coming of our Lord Jesus Christ I believe our perspectives on all aspects of life would be radically transformed. This is what the Apostle Paul tried to teach the Philippian Church:

“Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame—who set their mind on earthly things. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.” (Philippians 3:17-21)

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My sister Minji (given name Mary) wrote yesterday in response to our devotional on the last conceit to go and said she has been struggling to understand her “artist self”, lately realizing that we never really understand ourselves. As we said, only God understands us. Minji is realizing a great freedom in losing herself instead of the exhausting fool’s errand of trying to find oneself.

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Friends, it’s finally here!

Our new venture is up and running and we want to be sure you pass the word to everyone you know!

Just click on the banner below and you can see our new website, Aletheia Group LLC:

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If you Google “least trusted profession” you will find politician either number one or two, at times second only to a used car salesman. I would like to defend the few used car salesmen I know; they are honest men and I trust them.

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Aletheia is a Greek philosophical word that means truthfulness that corresponds to reality. This means we can trust Biblical, aletheia, truth because it is true and it is real. It is undeniable. Do people deny this truth? Of course, but it does not make it any less true.

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Why is our nation in the state it is? Many blame this political party while that party blames the other party. The church blames the atheists and the atheists blame the church. Seems like there’s a lot of finger-pointing going on these days. The concept of personal responsibility long ago left American society with Dr. Spock’s admonition to not spank children, the government enabling bad personal behavior, and the mainstreaming of immorality, just to name a few.

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The first use of the word aletheia is actually used by the Pharisees in one of their tests of Jesus:

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The next big fight in Congress is whether or not to raise the current debt ceiling. Supposedly, Capitol Hill and 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue—purportedly filled with self-avowed Christians—understand that this spending and debt accumulation cannot go on forever. Alas, right understanding does not always turn into right action, particularly not inside the Beltway.

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Beloved,

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Today is the 150th Anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. It is considered our first modern war; it was by far America’s most costly. The thing that always amazes me, so eloquently and poignantly illustrated in Ken Burn’s “Civil War”, is the courage under fire of the men facing sure carnage.

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