Hi to my Forum Friends,
Recently, on Facebook, I posted the following URL link and my comment below:
ADF - Alliance Defense Fund www.alliancedefensefund.org
IF WE DO NOT PROTECT our Biblical Gospel -- the "gospel of secularism/atheism" will destroy it. "Separation of Church and State" is a Liberal Left Lie perpetrated by those who would drive God out of America. If we will not stand for our God -- who or what are we willing to stand for -- what are we perpetrating, if not God? Think about it.
Then, click this link to add your name to those who will take a stand to protect our First Amendment rights, who will take a stand to protect our religious freedom, who will take a stand to protect our Christian heritage and faith. God bless, Bill
Below are responses I received and my replies to them.
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John: Only if you fully accept that Jesus is God can you begin to claim that this country is founded on Christian principles. I don't believe Jesus is God. I am a Christian. I don't believe this nation is, or was, a Christian nation -- and I believe that anyone that makes the false claim that it is, or was, is nothing short of an arrogant religious bigot.
JOHN, How can you tell us that you do not believe Jesus Christ is God -- and then, tell us you are a Christian? Why do you call yourself a Christian, a Christ Follower, if you do not believe Him to be God?
Quite honestly, John, that is impossible -- to be a Christian who does not believe in Christ. Just curious. Who is Jesus if He is not God the Son, the second Person in the Trinity? What does John 1:1 mean when it tells us, "In the beginning was the Word (Jesus), and the Word (Jesus) was with God, and the Word (Jesus) was God."
John, the phrase in John 1:1, “. . . and the Word was God.” in the Greek language is "kai theos en ho logos" which is saying -- "and (kai) God (theos) was (en) the (ho) Word (logos)" -- "and God was the Word (Jesus)" This phrase leaves no doubt that Jesus Christ is deity, that He is God.
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John: I don't believe the Bible is the word of God. I believe Jesus is the Son of God. I don't agree with any of the "organized and labeled" Christian groups so I refer to myself as a "non-Biblical Christian." No person or group has a copyright or trade name lock on the word "Christian." This is America. I can call my theology anything I want.
My Friend, Johnny Morales, responded to this comment from John, "You are right, John. You are free to condemn yourself. We pray for you!"
JOHN, God gave us His Word -- both His Written Word and His Living Word. We cannot separate the two; each is an integral part of the other. "All Scripture is inspired by God. . ." (2 Timothy 3:16). One of the reasons we have so many different denominations of Christian churches today is because many different people want to create their own theology. They do this by cherry-picking from Scripture those verses or passages which agree with their predetermined belief system. True theology is built upon the entire Bible.
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Jackie: The truths contained in the scriptural teaching of the different religious traditions are meant to unite us, not separate us. Literal interpretation creates separation, whereas symbolic interpretation - seeing that all of them address the identical design of our spiritual natures - brings us together.
"This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness." - The Dalai Lama
Johnny (Morales) - Such words are not congruent with walking in the faith of Christianity. You must love your brother as you would love yourself. Such words are damaging and reaffirms the other party's viewpoint that Christians are pious bigots. Hope you can all love each other despite your differences.
JACKIE, I am sorry, I have known you most of your life and find it difficult to relate to you with a New Age name now. So, if you do not mind, I will continue to call you Jackie.
Before I became a Christian believer 24 years ago -- I was very much into New Age religions myself. All the things I see you writing about, I did long before I became a Christian. In 1987, when I became a Christian believer, I was still carrying much of the weight, the baggage, of those years spent studying and following New Age religions. Our dear Friend, Pastor Sam Lacanienta, gently took me by the hand and walked me out of that darkness and into the Light of Jesus Christ. With Pastor Sam's help, I had shed that darkness by the time I became Christian Friends with you and your family in our San Clemente church .
When I gave my life to God, I was able to throw off the cloak of darkness found in the metaphysical and dark spiritual worlds of the New Age religions. Believe me, Jackie, I have experienced attacks from the demonic spirits found in New Age religions -- and they are ugly. Like you are experiencing now, I went through years of believing I was on an intellectual journey of massive scope. But, I found that I was really wading in New Age sludge.
You quote the Dalai Lama who was teaching a religion of self worship; not God worship. That is no different than what the secular and atheist world teaches -- "be your own god." That, my Friend, is a slippery slope.
You tell Johnny Morales that we must love our brother if we are to walk in Christian faith. That is true. However, first, we must love Jesus Christ, God. You will notice, in Matthew 22:37, Jesus tells us first, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." And, THEN, He tells us to, "love your neighbor as yourself" (verse 39).
Johnny Morales may have been very direct when he told John, "You are right John. You are free to condemn yourself. We pray for you!" However, I can feel Johnny's desire, and often frustration -- for, dealing in apologetics, as I do on a daily basis, with those of other religions, including atheism, secularism, and world religions -- it does get very tempting sometimes to just tell them all, "Okay, go to hell (literally)."
Jackie, I have known you from the time you were a small girl in our Christian church in San Clemente. And, it does cause me pain to see you so eagerly stretching yourself toward New Age and Liberal religions.
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Ethan: I believe (in lieu of arguing about the validity of this or that religion) ALL religions (and lack of religions thereof) should band together simply to exert, on the government, that there is no ability for any Federal, State, or Local governing body to limit the worship (or non worship) of any citizen. Regardless if we are a Christian nation or not, the simple fact is freedom, or no freedom.
Perhaps a more streamlined approach, rather than argue about whether the Ten Commandments should be displayed in public (or at least in government buildings) -- we should embrace all religions and let them post up whatever they want. Lessons from the Dalai Lama, from a Rabbi, from a Christian, or a Muslim are just as valid, as all are attempts by Man to reconcile their own spirituality. At least from a law standpoint.
I just want to make sure that the Muslim down the street has just as much freedom to practice their religion as I do, and as, say, the Scientologist, or Jehovah's Witness does. And that NO governing body ever has a say in what any citizen does with their faith.
ETHAN, the reason America, in less than 250 years, has become the "beacon of light, the beacon of hope" for so much of the world is that we DO have the God given, God ordained "freedom" to worship or not to worship as we please. But, all of this "freedom" was built upon our founding fathers and the founding documents they so wisely gave us. And, those founding documents were based upon Biblical influence and teachings. So, if you say we can have "freedom" without God -- I invite you to test the waters in Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other non-Christian nations.
Yes, the Scientologist, Jehovah's Witness, Muslim, Mormon, Unitarian Universalist, and all those in the world religions -- including atheism, secularism, and the occultic New Age -- are free to worship whomever or whatever they desire. That is the beauty of our Christian nation -- that we allow ALL people to have this freedom.
However, what Johnny Morales and I are sharing is not only the freedom to live this life in this wonderful nation of America -- but, to live eternally in the presence of God. For without God, living is not living -- especially when we remember that we all are created to be eternal, immortal beings. We will ALL live eternally. The difference is -- WHERE will we choose to live that eternity, that eternal life?
Keep in mind that eternity is a long, long time -- it never ends. So, do you choose to live that eternity in peace and happiness in the presence of God? Or do you choose to live that eternity in the suffering which exists when one is in an eternity totally void of God?
That is what Johnny meant when he wrote to John, "You are right John. You are free to condemn yourself. We pray for you!"
You Ethan, Jackie, John, Johnny, all people, including myself -- HAVE to make a choice -- God or no God. And, that is why we Christian believers share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and why we pray that all people will make the RIGHT choice.
Thank you all for your comments. While I would choose to have you agree with me, I prefer that even when we disagree, we can agree to disagree -- and remain Friends. God bless, Bill
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My long time dear Friend, Pastor Freddy Cortez, has written on their Church of Hope Facebook page: Our objective is to reach and teach as mandated in the Bible. For the lost, we evangelize. For the believer, we instruct using the Word of God. We believe that salvation is a “gift” which can never be merited by works. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
I find it difficult to improve upon what Pastor Freddy has written. So, if you feel this dialogue will be useful to you in evangelizing or instructing -- please feel free to share it with your Friends, Relatives, Associates, and Neighbors -- all your FRANs. Let's keep sharing the Word of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all the world -- until He returns.
God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,
Bill