tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50156263705299528852023-12-24T04:43:04.332-05:00The Driven Quill of an Evangelical AgnosticRon Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.comBlogger88125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-1772386674975182342022-09-22T04:49:00.000-04:002022-09-22T04:49:31.881-04:00What is the Key that Opens the Door of Heaven?<p> </p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2zpJDw1Evhz0tQM8uZWkY99pQZcbmgzqkzNLcOmwZMThW8J2pjvJEDsBbFc81B7-3s3xmZspepUR1mpcfCa-cTjMTOohEF1ec0StSBBepCI8TJxf8qo7tjTgywZFD7ES-8SGsNAvkURitpRgkEQRCz2zFa-KiS_UhHssV_TMPCWqWWStNM69ygeH/s1190/TheKey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="892" data-original-width="1190" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE2zpJDw1Evhz0tQM8uZWkY99pQZcbmgzqkzNLcOmwZMThW8J2pjvJEDsBbFc81B7-3s3xmZspepUR1mpcfCa-cTjMTOohEF1ec0StSBBepCI8TJxf8qo7tjTgywZFD7ES-8SGsNAvkURitpRgkEQRCz2zFa-KiS_UhHssV_TMPCWqWWStNM69ygeH/w222-h166/TheKey.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>And He says to him, “Truly, truly, I say to all of you, you will see the heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” John 1:51</span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">In 2003 I stepped across the threshold into just such a Presence in Uganda and I said to my companion, “I don’t want to leave here the same way I came.” A few days later I was able to say, “I will never be the same again.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For Heaven to be Open there must be a Key The Sovereign Initiative of the Father is the Key that unlocks Heaven.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 16:17</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">No natural sagacity, study, or discernment had revealed the great truth. None of these had overcome slowness of apprehension, prejudices of education, slackness of faith. No unregenerate mortal man had taught him the gospel mystery. None but the Father could have revealed to him the Son. Pulpit Commentary</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">God the Father chose Simon to receive this revelation. On what basis? Sovereign choice and Sovereign choice alone. As my friends in the African-American community say, “He is God all by Himself.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Beware less we think we need to stretch out the hand of flesh to steady the Ark of His Presence. “Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.” 2 Samuel 6:6b-7 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Just a few verses later Simon Peter did just that and got a severe rebuke. “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Matthew 16:23 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">This is also proof that he was not chosen because he was choice - he became choice as a result of having been chosen. Human flaws are no hindrance to Sovereign choice. The Bible is full of just such examples. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Human effort and/or disposition cannot raise up the Fallen Booth of David for God says He will raise it up at the Last Days and His people will be drawn into His Presence. “‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the tent of David that has fallen; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will restore it,” Acts 15:16 Notice how often the pronoun “I” is used in this one verse. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Thus we cannot create an Open Heaven - we can only Celebrate its Openness. That is what is called True Worship. God doesn’t change, but we most certainly will be!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As I was that day in 2003...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Until the time that his (Joseph’s) word came to pass, The word of the LORD tested him. Psalm 105:19 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Joseph was held firmly by this Sovereign Purpose - there was nothing that could dissuade its culmination.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Everything that happened to Joseph no matter how evil or perverse it may have seemed was the Word of the Lord for Joseph.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Joseph, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” Genesis 50:20</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">What Joseph had to learn was timing. Fruitfulness and/or giftedness are no indicators of maturity - only timing is. All self-promotion must thoroughly be purged that which remains will only be to the Glory of God. “so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">As God also did for the nation of Uganda...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Once the nation was known as the Pearl of Africa. Yet they went through the Refiner’s Fire that they only would know the Pearl of Great Price.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">No matter the circumstances we are held firmly in the Grip not only of the One Who knows time - yet is time itself. “Grace to you and peace from Him who is, and who was, and who is to come,” Revelation 1:4</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">And this is our confidence.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">He loves His own unto the end!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Mzee Ron</span></p><div><br /></div>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-78281620135172314922022-01-23T16:47:00.003-05:002022-01-23T16:47:37.546-05:00The Fourth Watch - January 23, 2022 - An Apostolic Church! What Is It?<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqrwByD8ZIjOHh5NoqNTBXYfwCgV2vwVD-xYMsAS7KfLjgEw6QHNO4TwrKjqM5V450hGxyCshugXjC-3wheaz4M9btkBomGgrx0EvKGd00hs4iWbjtHf6vvocWFp927VzryTQt5sTGhtacWm2y3He6K5nrV_5ImZfbUN5PdeH855w9FFcgTVoV-jL8=s125" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" height="98" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjqrwByD8ZIjOHh5NoqNTBXYfwCgV2vwVD-xYMsAS7KfLjgEw6QHNO4TwrKjqM5V450hGxyCshugXjC-3wheaz4M9btkBomGgrx0EvKGd00hs4iWbjtHf6vvocWFp927VzryTQt5sTGhtacWm2y3He6K5nrV_5ImZfbUN5PdeH855w9FFcgTVoV-jL8" width="125" /></a></div><span style="font-size: medium;">Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord. Acts 11:19-21<br /><br />The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch. Acts 11:26b<br /><br />According to Anglican Theologian Michael Green (1930-2019)* the Church at Antioch was the first sending church in the initial phases of her development.<br /><br />Although there had been apostles - this was the first church that could be said to be apostolic.<br /><br />This church was composed mostly of Greeks (Gentiles) or as Green calls them Hellenists.<br /><br />From the word scattered above we get the term the church <i>diaspora </i>(apostolic/executive). It is accompanied by the church gathered or <i>ekklesia</i> (bishoped/legislative). <br /><br />Here are some observations on the Apostolic Church of Antioch by Dr. Green.<br /><br />1) They believed in a God who is always on the move–not housed in a building.<br /><br />2) They believed in a Jesus who is the Son of man, Lord over the whole of mankind, not simply the Jewish Messiah.<br /><br />3) They believed in the God who makes all things new and does not tie us into customs of the past.<br /><br />4) They believed in a faith that was as good for Gentiles as it was for Jews, not restricted to those who were already “insiders.”<br /><br />5) Their message and their way of life were striking and indeed radical. But they turned the world upside down. These Hellenists were very manifestly open to change.<br /><br />(Green, Michael, Evangelism Through the Local Church, Thomas Nelson, Inc, 1992, pages 88-89)<br /><br />*His mother was Australian and his Father Welsh.<br /><br />(There was once a local congregation in our community that called itself an Antioch or sending church - and it did! Then under a subsequent pastor it changed its focus to a Jerusalem or community church and never recovered its vitality. That is my personal observation.) </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mzee Ron <br /> </span></span></p>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-71398522426219306932021-02-01T04:15:00.001-05:002021-02-01T04:20:52.732-05:00When God Stands Up to Judge!<p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlI0QNVpzqbvYUy7LkflejIHvlJof_X9miQ4j2I2AKT2obHxqYI1nYcQOCbeGCxxxZuaqy7-L0jRX-xTmHR5t7x1PPNy2p9Ec1DAc8_POePM66b36bdYddcNmSp1fRLiZc2ljHtzSFHg/s301/Gavel.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="168" data-original-width="301" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlI0QNVpzqbvYUy7LkflejIHvlJof_X9miQ4j2I2AKT2obHxqYI1nYcQOCbeGCxxxZuaqy7-L0jRX-xTmHR5t7x1PPNy2p9Ec1DAc8_POePM66b36bdYddcNmSp1fRLiZc2ljHtzSFHg/w200-h112/Gavel.png" width="200" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">W</span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">hat could I do when God stands up to judge?</span><p></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">How should I answer him when he calls me to account?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Did not the one who made me in the womb also make them?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Did not the same God form us both in the womb?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Job 31:14-15 Justice - Equity </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I was recently asked to define justice. I quickly replied with one word - equity! Equity is what Job is speaking about here. He is saying each unborn person in the womb should have an equal opportunity to live - and to life. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart;” Jeremiah 1:5</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">"Biblical justice, therefore, is the equitable and impartial application of the rule of God's moral law in society."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Tony Evans, Oneness Embraced, p261.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Paul, “But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased” Galatians 1:15</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">To destroy the unborn person in the womb without giving them the opportunity of life is the epitome of injustice or inequity - it is immoral. It is the arrogance of seating ourselves on the throne of God for we determine the course of life. In effect we have made ourselves judges.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Isaiah, “The LORD called Me from the womb; from the body of My mother He named Me.” Isaiah 49:1 <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Just as sure as the tomato is already in the seed and will become a beautiful fruit if properly nourished, so is the person already in the embryo and will become a beautiful being if properly nourished by its mother. We may not know what she or he will actually look like but the image is already there. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Me, “And I am a witness...” </span></p>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-49658603337078176622020-12-21T03:53:00.002-05:002021-12-20T04:35:59.471-05:00North America’s First Christmas Card<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0zBGQM5lVttALJ2OekuPCm4ms1J5p1Ied_7NLyAgjNrJtkm8aRHHN6V170TIgyJCh9oBhjaCw0S3YoTVb0dJwgV0HxE7ErV5lXD_hJixwirhQfIhGwT_kRnXloj2HR4V1hiWiTcCcyg/s768/FirstChristmasCardB.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="768" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd0zBGQM5lVttALJ2OekuPCm4ms1J5p1Ied_7NLyAgjNrJtkm8aRHHN6V170TIgyJCh9oBhjaCw0S3YoTVb0dJwgV0HxE7ErV5lXD_hJixwirhQfIhGwT_kRnXloj2HR4V1hiWiTcCcyg/s320/FirstChristmasCardB.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /></span><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><span style="text-align: left;">Wyoming County, West Virginia - The Winter Solstice - December 21, 2021</span></span></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given” Isaiah 9:6</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“At the time of sunrise, a ray grazes the notch on the left side on Christmas Day, the first season of the year, the season of the blessed advent of the savior Lord Christ. Behold he is born of Mary, a woman.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It was decided to verify the accuracy of the translation by visiting the carving in December. In ancient times, Christmas was celebrated around the Winter Solstice, so a small group met at the petroglyph on the night of December 21, 1982. Quietly they waited as the dawn sun climbed behind them to a height where it spilled over the mountains and streamed its rays toward the cliff face before them.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">They watched in amazement as the first shaft of sunlight funneled through a previously unnoticed notch in the cliff overhang, and like a flashlight beam, struck the dead center of a sun symbol at the left end of the panel. Since the sun rises in a slightly different spot each morning, its rays directly hit that sun spot at no other time of the year.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Transfixed, they watched the beam expand as the sun rose, pushing the shadow from left to right, slowly bathing the entire message in sunlight like a prehistoric neon sign announcing yet another Christmas as it had done for centuries.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Before their eyes, they had received a Christmas message across the ages. Here was a message that was definitely Christian, carved in the 6th century and carved in Ogham -- a cipher used at that time only by the Irish!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Shortly after publishing their remarkable find, the investigative team learned of another petroglyph at Horse Creek in nearby Boone County. This one was larger than the first. Dr. Fell called it a sensational find. He believed it to be the world's longest Ogham message and dated it between the 6th and 8th century. This 3-line message, when deciphered, read, A happy season is Christmas, a time of joy and goodwill to all people. The second line read; A virgin was with child; God ordained her to conceive and be fruitful. Behold a miracle. The third line read, She gave birth to a son in a cave. The name of the cave was the Cave of Bethlehem. His foster father gave him the name Jesus, the Christ, Alpha and Omega. Festive season of prayer.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">There is a very similar petroglyph in Count Kerry, Ireland.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">(I have walked down the railroad tracks at Lynco, Wyoming County, climbed the bank and viewed this indelible testimony for myself along with my buddy Denny Westover. It is interesting to note that according to the 2010 Census the majority ancestry group in Wyoming County are Irish - a Celtic people. Other Celtic peoples in the British Isles are the Scots, Welsh and Cornish. The First Century British Warrior Queen Boudica was also a Celt.) </span></p>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-42408796093575815812020-12-03T04:43:00.000-05:002020-12-03T04:43:26.797-05:00The Sacred Call for Men! A Boaz Company... <p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: trebuchet; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDsGyBoGs1ir6Li4lFqiDUuJYvw8h6A7xBrfbk5WRzas_9S_2cHqBDQOWHU0iA3dLpuvJEb0mljKanrlYfhepIy5TOTLBiLCzXKMZ3bIj_K8tLaSZyWIi1Z7ASwz4vWpERJmBtHeaYmQ/s259/BoazandRuth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDsGyBoGs1ir6Li4lFqiDUuJYvw8h6A7xBrfbk5WRzas_9S_2cHqBDQOWHU0iA3dLpuvJEb0mljKanrlYfhepIy5TOTLBiLCzXKMZ3bIj_K8tLaSZyWIi1Z7ASwz4vWpERJmBtHeaYmQ/s0/BoazandRuth.jpg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Can we only imagine what it would be like beginning with the first week of January 2021 for the men in our community to commit one day of all 52 weeks to pray and fast for the well-being of our community, city, region and state? </span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Why the men . . . ?</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">“Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.” 1 Timothy 2:8</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">It is primarily the men that are responsible for the wrath and dissension in our community. Therefore, it is incumbent on us to change the direction and see our community healed.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Can we be those of Boaz who will spread out our covering of protection over our Ruth? (This is what happened Saturday a week ago as a Band of Brothers stretched out our canopy over our sisters of Recovery Point. If you remember the picture, Ruth was standing there surrounded by a Boaz Company.) </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Our Ruth will then be released to be all that our Father has intended for her to be. (This insight is from my own Ruth.) That is, her cloak will be full of grain - more than she could ever have gleaned by herself. Ruth is imploring - Boaz stand up! If we do not take our stand to redeem her, there is another that will....</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">Will we accept the challenge? Will we be our Ruth’s Kinsman-Redeemers? Only in this manner will our promised inheritance be guaranteed - that is, our children. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">And Naomi became Boaz’ mother-in-law and the Grandmother to the child that would be born and it was said to her that he would be a restorer of life and a sustainer to her in her old age. The indication here is that the family would be whole - providing security. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">If you can only imagine - then join with us this Thursday, 8:00AM in the Conference Room of Joe Holland Imports.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">This is from no misogynist - but from the husband of one wife, the father of two daughters and the grandfather of three granddaughters - all of whom I love fiercely. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">From a World War One Era Song - so pertinent for today! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">They were summoned from the hillside</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">They were called in from the glen,</span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">And the country found them ready</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">At the stirring call for men.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">For no gallant son of freedom</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">To a tyrant's yoke should bend,</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">And a noble heart must answer</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">To the sacred call of "Friend."</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana; font-size: medium;">{Ruth’s antithesis is Jezebel. There can be no Jezebel without there first being an Ahab.} </span></p>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-14559744048658939612020-11-29T11:22:00.000-05:002020-11-29T11:22:18.461-05:00May We Guard Our Hearts<p><span style="font-family: helvetica;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s125/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s0/quill.jpeg" /></a></span></div><span style="font-family: helvetica;"><br />“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs 4:23</span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Please let us not use social media platforms to disparage our brother or sister who we may deem to be of weaker faith.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">I believe the Apostle Paul would have none of this. “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Romans 14:4 For if we do stand, it is He that has caused us to stand.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For Paul said of himself - “Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.” 1 Timothy 1:16 This letter is one of the latest penned by his hand to his young disciple as a last will and testament. It has been said that the older the Apostle became the more aware he became of the infinite grace and mercy that called him forth from that dusty road. I have heard it said that he “descended into greatness.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">It is the Pharisee - of which Paul had been one - who said, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector.’ Yet this very tax collector implored - ‘God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ The heart of the tax collector is one of humility while that of the Pharisee is one of arrogance. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Let us guard our hearts and minds that the spirit of the Pharisee enter not within and cause a hardening. For we are called to “strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,...so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.” </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">May we be those who are repairers of the breach so it cannot be said of us, “I sought for a man among them to build the wall and stand in the breach in my presence on behalf of the land so that it won't be destroyed, but I found no one,” Ezekiel 22:30 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">For our immutable hope is...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica;">“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.” Jude 1:24-25 </span></p><div><br /></div>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-72252247331461604142020-08-28T05:23:00.001-04:002020-08-29T04:38:31.165-04:00Solomon’s Portico - A Thin Place (Portal) <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsTigh32KgCakLMpBEnVUp2k-iMeOEwC20b6kiyJd-cPDhyW49B39ryqUfaDLkCHRnHLZrlUTHlRMGa_WktIpGEw2lflsVmro9m_9TaNItgMcDSBlyi_exq_Od6yW_f4CpOCc37jpLqys/s0/TwinPillarsB.jpg" /></div> <br /><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>What is the Eternal and Perpetual Significance of Solomon’s Portico and Its Twin Pillars?</b></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">There are only two objects in the construction of the First or Solomon’s Temple that received names. In effect they are anthropomorphic (a non-human object given human characteristics). </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. He erected the pillars at the portico of the temple. The pillar to the south he named Jakin and the one to the north Boaz.” 1 Kings 7:15, 21</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>the balance of evidence appears to favour the view that Jachin and Boaz were monuments erected in the porch, to dignify the sanctuary, and to symbolize the power and eternity of the Being to whom it was dedicated</i> P.C. (Pulpit Commentary)</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Righteousness and Justice </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Jakin was a priest - he shall establish - righteousness “Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness, And let Your godly ones sing for joy.” Psalm 132:9 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Boaz was a prince - in it (Him) is strength - justice “The strength of the King loves justice;” Psalm 99:4</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">These two pillars supported the roof of Solomon’s portico - porch. “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.” Psalm 89:14 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Primarily in Scripture we see the king as God’s chosen instrument of justice - while His chosen instrument of righteousness is the priest. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>New Testament Times</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon.” John 10:23 It was on the Eastern side of the temple. The warmth and glow of the sun arises in the east as does its herald the Morning Star. “I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." Revelation 22:16 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and <u>they were all with one accord</u> in Solomon's portico. Acts 5:12</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">In the days of Christ and His Apostles all that remained of the First Temple where the Glory of God dwelt was Solomon’s Portico. In the Fulness of Christ the Glory of God once again came to the Temple - to the only part that remained from the First. Yet, now it is no longer confined to the inner sanctuary to beheld by only a few - it is now to beheld by all, even the Gentiles. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The Portico of Solomon led the way into the Court of the Gentiles. All worshipers must pass between Jakin (righteousness) and Boaz (justice) to enter the Temple Courts. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">When Jesus cleansed the Temple it was the Court of the Gentiles that was cleansed. He passed through Solomon’s Portico to get there. ‘“The Jews hoped that the Messiah would cleanse the temple of Gentiles, but Jesus cleansed the temple for the Gentiles.” Christ judged the wicked and showed grace to His chosen in the very same act. God always shows mercy in the midst of judgment, but only those who trust in Him receive that grace.’ R.C. Sproul </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The roof was supported by the two pillars or columns thus it is often referred to as Solomon’s Colonnade. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Signs And Wonders</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus,” Acts 3:11-13 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Flavius Josephus writes of it: “the work of king Solomon, who first founded the whole temple.'' <i>The historic writings of Josephus give an eyewitness account to the First and Second Temples, as well as Herod's Temple, all shared the same fore-mentioned east wall of the Temple complex. The east boundary line of the Temple complex never changed. Josephus was clear that Herod refused to let his builders make any changes in the ancient works of the east wall because of the great expense. Herod allowed the construction of new courts on the north, west and south sides of the Temple but the east wall remained intact and undisturbed.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Although it was completely destroyed in 70AD by the Romans (They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.") the foundation on which the pillars rested remains - longingly. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, Ephesians 2:19 -20 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock (foundation stone) I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Matthew 16:18 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>This is where Jesus walks! </b> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><i>The porch of Solomon was no doubt a special place for Jesus. It was here that Jesus was seen often, speaking and teaching the people or just walking, as in John 10 during the festival of "lamps" or chanukkah, which commemorates the re-dedication of the temple and of God to His people. Later, after His death his disciples gathered here often.</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">All have access! Just as they did at the tabernacle of David. The portico was named after David’s son - but it would represent the Presence of great David’s Greater Son. Solomon’s throne would come down while the Throne of the Messiah would endure forever. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.” Jeremiah 23:5 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">“Clouds and thick darkness surround Him; Righteousness and justice are the foundation of His throne.” Psalm 97:2</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>A Spiritual Reality - A Portal </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Let the reader understand that I am not talking about rebuilding another physical building for God destroyed the first and successive ones for a reason. To attempt to do so would be akin to the building of the tower of Babel. “But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” Revelation 21:22 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">For Solomon’s Portico was not only a porch - it was a portal. The Celts would call it a “thin place” or a horizon - where heaven and earth come close. The only portico that will be re-built is the one built by Christ Himself. “I will build my church...” I believe I heard Him say that it would be His - thus it would go by no other name. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The twin pillars represented an opening - door-way - through which the King of Glory Himself would enter. “Lift up your heads, O gates (opening), And be lifted up, O ancient doors (entrance way), That the King of glory may come in!” Psalm 24:7 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">As with the rest of the temple it was built true - level and plumb. “I will make justice the measuring (level) line and righteousness the plumb line;” Isaiah 28:17a NIV </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">But the LORD of Hosts will be exalted by His justice, and the holy God will show Himself holy in righteousness. Isaiah 5:16 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>The Latter Glory</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">'The latter glory of this house will be greater than the former,' says the LORD of hosts (Heaven’s Armies), 'and in this place I will give peace,' declares the LORD of hosts." Haggai 2:9 Although there is a warfare motif here, the word peace doesn’t just mean the absence of war. We transliterate it as “shalom” which means welfare, health, prosperity. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">These words of the prophet reference the building of the Second Temple under Zerubbabel (prince) and Joshua (priest). <i>“But the promise is not fulfilled by this; the peace promised to the spiritual temple is that peace of heart and conscience which is given by him who is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6), and which includes all the graces of the Christian covenant.” "This house" means the temple at Jerusalem, regard not being paid to the special building, whether of Solomon, or Zerubbabel, or Herod. To us it speaks of the promise of Christ, God incarnate, in the holy city and in the temple itself, and of his presence in the Church, wherein he abides forever. </i>P.C. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">The first temple was built by the king (Solomon) whose name is "Peaceful;" the second is glorified by the presence of the "Peace bringer.” P.C. "The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh (Peace-maker) comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” Genesis 49:10 Shiloh can also mean “he whose right it is.”</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ 1 Kings 9:5 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Priests and Kings </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Thus when Shiloh came - He walked in what had prefigured His coming - Solomon’s Portico. “He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade.” John 10:23 Whose supporting columns are those of righteousness and justice - priests and kings. “and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Revelation 1:6 </span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Solomon was a type of priest-king for the Queen of Sheba said to him: "Blessed be the LORD your God who delighted in you, setting you on His throne as king for the LORD your God; because your God loved Israel establishing them forever, therefore He made you king over them, to do justice and righteousness." 2 Chronicles 9:8</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>The Regeneration</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">At the consummation - regeneration - Christ will return through the Portico of Solomon - between Jakin and Boaz. This temple will be a spiritual one - impervious to destruction by the hands of men - eternal in the heavenlies. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation;” Hebrews 9:11</span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"> </span><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;"><b>Epilogue</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: helvetica; font-size: medium;">Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. Psalm 100:4</span></p><div><br /></div><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"><br /></span></p><p><br /></p>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-85318722473923879412020-06-13T05:27:00.000-04:002020-06-13T05:27:34.963-04:00The Shedding of Innocent Blood - A Landed Sin<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" />Surely at the command of the LORD it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, and also for the innocent blood which he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; and the LORD would not forgive. 2 Kings 24:3-4</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">How did Manasseh shed innocent blood? “Also he made his son pass through the fire, practiced soothsaying, used witchcraft, and consulted spiritists and mediums. He did much evil in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him to anger.” 2 Kings 21:6</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Not Like Other Sins</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The slaughter of innocent blood is not just like other sins for it is unique in its gravity. If the shedding of innocent blood is just like other sins then why was Manasseh forgiven yet judgement still came upon Judah as a nation?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"They have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.” Jeremiah 7:31 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“You must not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.” Leviticus 18:21</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Profanes the Name of the Lord</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The shedding of innocent blood is such a grievous sin for it profanes the Name of the Lord. Why? For it is a mockery of the all atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God and treads underfoot the blood of the covenant. There remains “but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries of God.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">They shed innocent blood--the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was polluted with blood. Psalm 106:38 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Pollutes The Land</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the only sin of which it says it has polluted the land - making it infertile. Even though Manasseh repented, the judgement of God was still upon the land. As a result Judah was carried away into captivity even as her sister Israel also had been.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Innocent blood cries out from the ground (land) and its cry will not go unrequited. It is a national sin. Thus God could pardon Manasseh an individual - but He could not pardon the nation unless the nation repented. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is a landed sin - thus it is like no other. “Do not pollute the land where you live, for bloodshed pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land on which the blood is shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.” Numbers 35:23 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Its Voice Cries Out</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to Me from the ground.” Genesis 4:10 “so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel...” Matthew 23:35</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">There is nothing more righteousness than innocent blood for it has not yet been tainted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A nation or a people that will not defend the rights of the most innocent - the children in the womb - lies under a curse and it or they cannot prosper for their righteous blood cries out as a witness against them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Then He Will Hear</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As we call out in repentance for the shedding of the innocent blood of our children may we hope that it is not too late for our land - nation - to be healed. “then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Authentic repentance is much more than just saying “I am sorry” with no change of behavior. “Repent, therefore, and turn again, for the blotting out of your sins,” Acts 3:19 Repentance must come full circle or it is only remorse - I am sorry I got caught. The mere assuagement of guilt feelings is not repentance. It might make one feel better for awhile - but it will produce no lasting fruit of repentance. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For a nation (ethnos) to repent there must be a change of behavior. If we continue in our same patterns we need not expect times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. All that remains is to be carried off into captivity as the nation of Judah was.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“It was because of the LORD's anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.” 2 Kings 24:20 </span><br />
<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-66013881860899591442020-04-03T05:13:00.000-04:002020-04-03T05:13:24.521-04:00Disillusionment or Disenchantment <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.” John 9:25</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do not let the mission get ahead - eclipse - the vision or we will lose our way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There may be light, but it will be pseudo - a phantasm - nothing more than a will-o’-the-wisp that will only lead astray. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The vision determines the mission - not the other way around. The mission is unsustainable without the vision. The vision is unattainable without the mission. Vision shows the way - mission makes the way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Democratic or Republican </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A democracy is mission oriented - focusing on the immediate only promising quick fixes while doomed to exhaustion and failure. Her call is that of the siren’s song. She squanders the legacy of future generations leaving them bankrupt. Illusionary... It will only produce the bitter fruit of disappointment. As to stewardship it is prodigal - creating insecurity. It is lethargic.<span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A republic is vision oriented - harnessing the required resources toward the goal and is thus self-rejuvenating for it always sows back creating a return on investment. It guarantees a legacy for future generations to build upon - a firm foundation. Substantive... It produces the luscious fruit of hope - which will not disappoint. As to stewardship it is faithful - creating security. It is vigorous. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That is why the Republic of the United State of America has survived as long as it has. But we are now facing a crux - will we head off into oblivion or will we fulfill to the utmost quota our destiny? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Disillusionment or Disenchantment </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If we are disillusioned the illusion remains, but if we are disenchanted the spell is broken. Disillusionment produces disappointment - disenchantment leads to hope.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Disillusionment keeps us inside the paradigm, trying to fix the broken thing, and disenchantment, moves us outside the box, and that is when real change and transition take place.” William Bridges via Doug Small </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Are we persuaded - or are we deluded?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“because I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day.” 2 Timothy 1:12 <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“T'was blind but now I see...” John Newton </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1 </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">If we are sitting around trying to figure out what to do next that is ample evidence that we have succumbed to the illusion.</span></span><br />
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<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-19954300562272645952020-03-22T05:28:00.000-04:002020-03-27T04:46:56.230-04:00The Power of Covenant Love<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaIqsDUqYMLi2fYL0udvFR0hNc0DgT0zVVjJEI-zbInErSKaK36jzGc74Zel8bybwKyGwwriWA1id5pjyQEl9AoyKG0BihiheySjj-59i_sLaZ0mqQ6ce-8XOHDQg-TKt6DjVNfVye9c/s1600/David_w_Mephibosheth_1003-102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="148" data-original-width="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigaIqsDUqYMLi2fYL0udvFR0hNc0DgT0zVVjJEI-zbInErSKaK36jzGc74Zel8bybwKyGwwriWA1id5pjyQEl9AoyKG0BihiheySjj-59i_sLaZ0mqQ6ce-8XOHDQg-TKt6DjVNfVye9c/s1600/David_w_Mephibosheth_1003-102.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are longer the outcasts of fear - we are seated at the covenant table of God the Father who has accepted us in His Beloved Son. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“So the two of them made a covenant before the LORD; and David stayed at Horesh while Jonathan went to his house.” 1 Samuel 23:18</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Although Jonathan along with his father Saul were now dead - the covenant was still in effect. Jonathan’s covenant brother was now David the King - no longer an outcast. So the survivor implored...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>A Remnant</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">David asked, “Is there anyone still left of the house of Saul to whom I can show kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” 2 Samuel 9:1 God always has a covenant remnant - ‘Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: "Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved.”’ Romans 9:27 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Ziba answered the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is lame in both feet.” 2 Samuel 9:3b (Jonathan, the son of Saul, had a son who was crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled, and as she fled in her haste, he fell and became lame. And his name was Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 4:4)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are lame (with fear) in our feet - we are unable to come to Him - He must come to us. 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: “Come, breath, from the four winds and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'" Ezekiel 37:9 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>He Bids</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">When He bids us come He also provides the means to come. Mephibosheth was not the only son of Saul remaining - but he was the one chosen. “We are not chosen because we are choice - we become choice as a result of being chosen.” D.A. Carson </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“So King David had him brought from Lo Debar, from the house of Makir son of Ammiel.” 2 Samuel 9:5</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Oh God, grant what Thou commandest, and command what Thou dost desire,” St. Augustine What the King commands He provides the will to do and the corresponding strength. For we are born again not by the exercise of our “free-will” but by the will of God. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.” John 6:37</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Love Conquers</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For love conquers fear every time. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” 1 John 4:18 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “for I will surely show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” 2 Samuel 9:7</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Later when vengeance was exacted on the remaining sons of Saul for what he had done to the Gibeonites there was one who was spared. “But the king spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the LORD that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>A Seed </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">So that a seed may sprout it is the chosen ones who remain as it was with Mephibosheth who was a son of covenant. In the Biblical narrative the ones that are taken are the ones that are destroyed. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” John 13:1 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Chosen ones - you are children of the Covenant cut on your behalf by Great David’s Greater Son. And He decrees to you - ‘This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken: “Of those whom you gave me I have lost not one.”’ John 18:9 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">As for Me,” says the LORD, “this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants’ descendants,” says the LORD, “from this time and forevermore.” Isaiah 59:21 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Solus Christus </b></span><br />
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<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-2501192425794155542020-03-19T04:56:00.000-04:002020-03-19T04:56:14.134-04:00Who are the sons of God? And what is their purpose?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” Romans 8:19 The longing of creation is for its regeneration. The chosen instrumentality of God for this purpose is a royal priesthood - that is kings and priests.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Then he said, "These are the two anointed ones (sons of the oil) who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth." Zechariah 4:14 Literally they are Joshua the Priest and Zerubbabel the Prince. It is not so much who they were, but what they are. They are the implements of God to establish the place of His Presence in the earth with a view to the regeneration of all things - both in the heavens and on the earth. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i><b>Shekinah </b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Of course it was under them that the Second Temple was built - but it had not the Presence of God as the First Temple had under Solomon. Yet it was a harbinger of the day when the Shekinah of God would enter its chambers in the Person of the Son of God. Still in the purpose of God it had to be laid low as it was in 70AD so that the people of God would no longer mistake a building for the true residence of His Presence which was to be His people - “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 1 Peter 2:9 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things [regeneration], when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matthew 19:28</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There was a brief glimpse of this 160 years before Christ under the Maccabean dynasty who served both as priests and kings - but it was only a foreshadow of what was to come. “The hundred-year reign of the Maccabean priest-kings may be seen as a distant cousin of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah’s people, the “reigning priesthood,” in Revelation 20:6.” Wright, N. T.. The Day the Revolution Began (p. 128). HarperOne. Kindle Edition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Please understand that this reference is not about a futuristic period of time - but about the present reality of the Messiah’s current reign. The number 1000 signifies infinity - a rule without end. As to the Book of the Revelation it is a benediction - the bestowing of a blessing. "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever." Revelation 11:15 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(This was a kind of John the Baptist era (intertestamental) - preparing the way for the ‘Millennial’ Kingdom. For his father was a priest and his mother was of the Davidic line - a king.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Reign </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“and made us kings and priests to our God, and we will reign on earth." Revelation 5:10 “the future of redeemed mankind is not one in which the earth is discarded or eliminated. As the earth is an integral part of God’s creation, the renewal of creation includes the new earth as well as the new heaven.” Philip E. Hughes</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Reign of Christ is authenticated by Kings and Priests. They represent its present reality. This is just not about restoration which is looking back to the way things used to be - but about regeneration, looking forward to the way things will become. “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:13 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” James 1:18</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is no greater witness to God's goodness than that which is written upon the dome of heaven, even the regeneration of man. As the old creation was "by the Word" (John 1:3; John 1:10, et seq.), the new is by Him also, the Logos, the Word of Truth, and that by means of His everlasting gospel, delivered in the power of the Holy Ghost. So tenderly is this declared, that a maternal phrase is used--God brought us forth in the new birth; and though "a woman" may forget "the son of her womb" (Isaiah 49:15), yet will He "never leave, nor forsake" (Hebrews 13:5). Charles Ellicott </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Oneness</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The two - sons of the oil - must work hand in hand for they are one in purpose. “to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity (oneness) of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As Christ prepared to arise from the Covenant Table of Blessing this petition burst forth from His soon to be wounded heart to the Ancient of Days. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:20-23</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Oneness is a function - not just a demonstration. It is organic - not organizational. It is of the heart - not of the head.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our purpose is singular - one! That is to be image-bearers of the First Born of all creation. “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;” Romans 8:29 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“the reign of the infinitely gracious Jehovah is the hope of mankind, and when they all yield to it the race will have its paradise restored. The very globe itself may well be glad that its Maker and liege Lord has come to his own, and the whole race of man may also be glad, since to every willing subject Jesus brings untold blessings.” The Treasury Of David - C.H. Spurgeon</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Soli Deo Gloria! </span><br />
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<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-69860714967856051642020-03-10T04:36:00.000-04:002020-03-14T06:25:52.794-04:00The Frog In The Kettle...”And To The Republic!”<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of government … ” </span><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Article IV Section 4, of the Constitution</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We are slowly being boiled to death and we don’t even realize it. Several of our current slate of presidential candidates have announced their intention to abolish the Electoral College if elected. Since this is a foundational tenant of our Republic this is nothing less than an intention to dismantle that which has stood in good stead for well over two centuries. In effect they are announcing an attempt at a coup. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>THE IDEA</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Eric Metaxes writes - “For such a thing to happen is typical of ideas in history. Once they become settled or codified into institutions, the temptation is to look to the institution that was created by the idea and eventually to forget the idea and mistake the institution for the idea.” If You Can Keep It - The Forgotten Promise Of American Liberty - p. 183 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We have lost sight of the grand idea - vision - of a Republican Form of government that was birthed into reality by our Founding Fathers. A Republic is the only guarantor of a government of “We the people...” for it protects the rights of each individual. A democracy gives sway for the rights of the few to be trampled under the feet of the majority. This results in the usurpation of the grand organic idea for the doddering bureaucracy of an all encompassing institution. In short the Grand Republican Idea lies prostrate beneath the jackboot heel of suffocating grinding institutional “democratic” socialism.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">― Thomas Jefferson </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>INJUSTICE</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">I could never quail to note that the first ones to suffer injustice under such a regime would be the most vulnerable - the unborn person. For the devotees of “democratic socialism” maintain they have no rights - that is the right to life. This is a travesty of unimaginable proportions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">In a furious attempt to build a better furnace the fire on the inside has gone out and no one notices. There is no longer any heat or light but we continue on our way beguiling unaware of what has transpired. By giving heed to the alluring siren call of free this and free that our Republican Liberty has been dashed upon the treacherous rocks of enslavement. The debris of the idea lies awash - being tossed to and fro by the unrelenting waves of deception. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>REAL LIBERTY </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Alexander Hamilton asserted that "We are now forming a Republican form of government. Real liberty is not found in the extremes of democracy, but in moderate governments. If we incline too much to democracy we shall soon shoot into a monarchy, or some other form of a dictatorship." Hamilton, in the last letter he ever wrote, warned that "our real disease…is DEMOCRACY." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Even Fox News has fallen into this pitcher plant of malaise for they are calling their election coverage “Democracy 2020.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“I am a Republican, a black, dyed in the wool Republican, and I never intend to belong to any other party than the party of freedom and progress.” Frederick Douglass</span><br />
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Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-19354059586631892462020-03-01T05:00:00.000-05:002020-03-02T04:47:25.449-05:00Social Justice and Socialism are not the same thing!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Lovingkindness and truth go before You.” Psalm 89:14 “Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.” Ezekiel 16:49 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Social” Justice is a hand up. It is liberation. It allows you to dream your dream. “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” (Social justice is a commonly accepted term but it is non-Biblical. In the Bible it is just justice.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">True freedom comes through earning your stuff. “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Justice causes one to turn toward God as Provider who will supply all of our needs according to His riches in Glory - and for His purpose. .</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It engenders the worship of the One True God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And He never did say that His provision would not be spelled w.o.r.k. “...but those who work hard will prosper.” Proverbs 13:4 NLT </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a Republic freedom is guaranteed and initiative is encouraged. Our Founding Fathers who formed our Republican form of government had the foresight to see what would make this nation a great bastion of free-enterprise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Contrary to what socialist would say this nation along with its plethora of humanitarian enterprises is the greatest benefactor this world has ever seen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Socialism is a hand-out - or a hand down. It is oppressive - bondage - enslavement. It steals your dream. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;...” It creates despondent dependency from which there seems to be no escape. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Free stuff is not freedom. It creates a form of serfdom to the supposed benefactor from which true freedom can never be attained. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Socialism is ‘a turning away from the living God to worship idols; that this results in giving to the idols—“forces” within the creation—a power over humans and the world that was rightfully that of genuine humans; and that this leads to a slavery, which is ultimately the rule of death itself, the corruption and destruction of the good world made by the Creator.’ Wright, N. T.. The Day the Revolution Began (p. 86). HarperOne. Kindle Edition. <span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is the worship of the creature (idolatry) rather than the Creator Who is Blessed forever. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.” 2 Thessalonians 3:2 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In a democracy freedom is forfeited and enterprise is quashed. Thus we have “democratic socialism.” For democracy is the breeding ground of socialism - it was abhorred by our Founding Fathers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Socialism is a facade - hiding the true intent of its supposed adherents. “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; John 12:5-6</span>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-46929308514407920512020-02-26T04:52:00.000-05:002020-02-26T04:52:59.735-05:00A Change of Address or a Change of Vocation?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">An abdication of responsibility or a revolution of purpose! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As evangelicals might we no longer determine our success - or worse yet, our worth - by how many souls are saved to go to heaven when they die or how many exhilarating services we have within the confines of the “church house” - but rather how many beings are called and commissioned to make a difference where they live right now with a vision toward the new heavens and a new earth. This vision if fully embraced will lead to a drastic change in our mission for vision determines mission. And to authentic discipleship. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>DELIVERED</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">What does it really mean to be delivered from the domain of darkness and to be translated into the Kingdom of His Dear Son? It has to mean more than just to have a change of address from hell to heaven. After all the Son in His instructions on prayer urged that our entreaty to the Father would be that His will be done on the earth as it is being done right now in the heavenly realm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">"The New Testament, with the story of Jesus’s crucifixion at its center, is about God’s kingdom coming on earth as in heaven. This is, after all, what Jesus taught his followers to pray. That is a rather obvious piece of evidence, though people regularly ignore it in practice." Wright, N. T., The Day the Revolution Began (p. 40). HarperOne. Kindle Edition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>HIDDEN JEWEL</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Possibly the most hidden jewel of the Reformation is Luther’s Doctrine of Vocation. To say again: “The doctrine of vocation is one of the greatest—though strangely neglected and forgotten—teachings of the Reformation.” It is most certainly no avocation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Vocation, says Luther, is a “mask” of God: We see only the human face, performing ordinary tasks in everyday life, but behind that calling, through which we are blessed, God himself is hidden, giving his gifts.” Gene Veith - The Gospel Coalition </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">May we no longer ascribe to the erroneous concept of being bi-vocational. It is all God! I refer to myself as being omni-vocational. “For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. All things were created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16 There are no exceptions! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>“PARA-CHURCH”</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">May we with one voice sound the death knell of “para-church” for church is not something we go to - it is where and who we are in Him. “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Ephesians 1:22-23 The church is not a place - it is His Presence. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In Him every day is sacred - a Sabbath. In Him every place is consecrated - holy unto the LORD, as a field devoted - an Ebenezer. In Him every believer is sanctified - a Royal Priesthood. The voice spoke to him a second time: "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Acts 10:15 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>ASSIGNMENT</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.” 1 Corinthians 7:17 Each of us has an assignment in this current life to which the Lord has called us. Paul had an assignment in his life that was more important than going to heaven until his course had been fully run. Each one of us also has a foreordained call from our Faithful Father that we must not neglect. “For we are His workmanship (masterpiece), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">We are not called to escapism - we are called to stewardship. If we are looking forward to the return of Christ as we should, it must not be enshrouded in a false concept of rapturism - but at the joyous prospect of the regeneration of all things.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><b>REGENERATION </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Where did He say He was going to take His disciples and us (John 14:2)? The Fatherhood of God which is where He came from and to which He was returning. This place of abiding was going to come to them as a present reality - not an ethereal existence in the bye and bye (John 14:23). In this present age we are His image-bearers that He might be the First of a great company.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">“I am suggesting that in the Bible humans are created in order to live as worshipping stewards within God’s heaven-and-earth reality, rather than as beings who, by moral perfection, qualify to leave “earth” and go to “heaven” instead.” Wright, N. T.. The Day the Revolution Began (pp. 77-78). HarperOne. Kindle Edition. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration (renewal of all things) when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Matthew 19:28<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
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<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-60614951384900011432020-02-16T11:28:00.000-05:002020-02-19T04:11:23.500-05:00Who are the ones that are left behind? An eschatological conundrum - maybe not.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why is this important? Because it determines our vision which in turn defines our mission.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The Promise</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ones that are left behind remain for they are the children of the Promise. “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Galatians 3:29 This promise is emblazoned on their hearts longing for fulfillment. For they are the first fruits of the Father's eternal purpose - hidden in Christ from before the foundation of the earth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They are the seed of the regeneration. And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne,...: Matthew 19:28 That is as the First Born, when He puts all things to rights they will belong to the Company of the First Born. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Days Of Noah</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As it was in the days of Noah, so will it be at the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:37 This verse and those around it could be said to represent an eschatological pattern. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the days of Noah it was the wicked that were taken away while the elect were kept safe in the security of the Lord - an ark. Their purpose was to populate the newly cleansed earth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Lot and his daughters were kept safe at the destruction of Sodom - but they were not caught away. They were the ones that were left behind after the conflagration of divine judgement.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At the Passover the first-born of the Hebrew nation were protected from the Death Angel by the innocent blood on the doorpost and lintel while the first-born of Egypt who were not protected were taken away in judgement. There was a promise in the bosom of Israel of a land that they were yet to inhabit. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>The New Covenant</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 70AD - the complete destruction of Jerusalem and its form of Temple (place) worship - again it was the wicked that were taken in a great purging while the elect were kept safe in the surrounding hills. This fire was a cleansing fire to remove the last vestiges of the Old Covenant that as it passed away the New might fully supercede it. "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." Matthew 24:2 This was the end of an age. As one age ends it makes way for a new one - until the final consummation. It is only the chrysalis which must be discarded that the winged beauty may take flight. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“The words of the blessing of Enoch, wherewith he blessed the elect and⌉righteous, who will be living in the day of tribulation, when all the wicked and godless⌉are to be removed.” Enoch 1:1 The elect remain while the godless are taken away. This book although apocryphal was relied on extensively by the early church fathers. It was also quoted by Jude in his canonical epistle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>A Great Company</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We stand on the shoulders of a great company of martyrs who would consider it spurious to tell them they would not have to go through tribulation. I was in a meeting once with Richard Wurmbrand - Tortured For Christ - when he was asked if believers would have to go through tribulation. To him this was nonsensical - for the scars on his back were the mute answer to this question. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And behold! He cometh with ten thousands of ⌈His⌉ holy ones</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To execute judgement upon all,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">And to destroy ⌈all⌉ the ungodly:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Enoch 1:9</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Refiner’s Fire</b> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The fire of God is not a fire of annihilation but a fire of transformation. It is a refiner’s fire. The dross (impurities) arises to the top that it might be scooped away leaving only the unalloyed precious metal. Those who remain will populate the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness dwells. If all things were created by Him and for Him can we expect a created being - man - to frustrate His ultimate promise? “-- all things have been created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“For God to disregard or annihilate the present creation would testify to the failure of his purpose in bringing it into being, and this in turn would contradict the doctrine of the being of God, whose purpose, by definition, is incapable of meeting with failure.” Philip E. Hughes </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“You’re the Word of God the Father</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From before the world began.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ev’ry star and ev’ry planet</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Has been fashioned by Your hand.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">All creation holds together</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">By the power of Your voice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let the skies declare Your glory;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Let the land and seas rejoice!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“It may be that, as the water of the Deluge was the baptism of the ancient world into a new life, so the fire of the great day will be the means of purifying and refining the universe, transforming it into new heavens and a new earth, making all things new.” Pulpit Commentary </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.” 2 Peter 3:13 A cleansing or purging must first come.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Stewardship</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With such a hopeful expectation we are encouraged to live the life of the stewardship of His eternal purpose. “It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.” Mark 13:34 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Escapism is not an acceptable alternative. A catching away that abdicates responsibility has no place in the grand panoramic schema of God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is my Father's world:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">O let me ne'er forget</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">That though the wrong seems oft so strong,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">God is the Ruler yet.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is my Father's world:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Why should my heart be sad?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Lord is King: let the heavens ring!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">God reigns; let earth be glad! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b><i>Soli Deo Gloria! </i></b></span><br />
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Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-64511831610449924202020-02-14T08:58:00.000-05:002020-02-15T08:29:57.064-05:00A Republican Form of Government <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of government … ” Article IV Section 4, of the Constitution</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Many are bemoaning the loss of democracy or are alarmed at the attacks on it. This is nothing more than Don Quixote tilting at windmills. Even Fox News is calling their election coverage Democracy 2020.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Founding Fathers</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our Founding Fathers never intended for our national government to be a democracy. That word is not used in the Declaration of Independence nor the Constitution. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There was never a democracy that did not commit suicide.” John Adams </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our Founding Fathers were men who had a far-reaching vision. The Republic that resulted was designed to remain for it was strategic in nature. It had long-ranging goals and its effectiveness is a testimony to the divine wisdom granted to those men.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>No Quick-Fix</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Democracies by their very nature are short-sighted. They offer immediate results with no hope of sustain-ability. They proffer the illusion of a quick-fix with no idea of how they will produce fruit that will remain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A sugar tit - nothing more than a pacifier - is what is being tantalizingly offered by many of our current slate of candidates for the presidency. They believe that by throwing money at problems they can assuage their own guilt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Electoral College </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By their attacks on the Electoral College - a central tenant of the Republic - they are revealing their true nature. They are nothing more than demagogues. “Demagogues have appeared in democracies since ancient Athens. They exploit a fundamental weakness in democracy: because ultimate power is held by the people. Demagogues usually advocate immediate, forceful action to address a crisis while accusing moderate and thoughtful opponents of weakness or disloyalty.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A tragic example of this is when an idolatrous union results in the conception of a human life the quick-fix - with no heedance to its long-range viability - is to destroy it while it is yet in the security of the womb.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Incompatible </b><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The basic tenants of a republic and a democracy are fundamentally incompatible. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Marshall observed, “Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>A Testing</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To borrow from some famous words of a great champion of the Republic, we are currently involved in a “testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.” Our adjuration must be that this nation was so conceived and dedicated as a Republic - and it shall long endure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never call retreat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment-seat</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! Be jubilant, my feet!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our God is marching on... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Battle Hymn of the Republic </span><br />
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<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-51974559620220700992020-01-27T04:56:00.000-05:002020-01-28T04:10:21.170-05:00A Republic, Madam, If You Can Keep It! - The Spirit of Absalom - Childishness<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, 1 Thessalonians 2:11 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Democracy arises out of the worship of the creature rather than the Creator and can only lead to immorality. “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” This is the exchange of the truth of God for a lie. There is nothing more immoral than the destruction of the innocent human life while yet in the nourishing security of its mother’s womb - unless as a result of such an intrusion she or he is born alive and then allowed to perish while its perpetrators stand by violating their own oath - “Above all, I must not play at God.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Children - Not Slaves</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">A democracy does not create children, but slaves. It is only the republic that begets sons and daughters.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The presidency is a threat to democracy. The office of the president is not one of the autocrat - but the one of the father. Peggy Noonan was a speech writer for President Reagan. She said that when he had been away and then returned the staff would exclaim, “Daddy’s home!”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is why we are seeing the current attempt at insurrection. Our republic has withstood the tests of time - enduring much suffering - such as a horrific Civil War. The victorious forces were known as the Grand Army of the Republic. Yet these trials have only served to perfect her. Once again there is an insidious threat rising from within that seeks to bring her low. Their fate is to be entrapped in their own snare.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Spirit Of Absalom</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The spirit of Absalom is at work. “In this manner Absalom dealt with all Israel who came to the king for judgment; so Absalom stole away the hearts of the men of Israel.” 2 Samuel 15:6 Absalom was selected by a plurality of the people albeit by false promises, intrigue and innuendo. His ultimate aim was patricide. David was anointed as King by God. He mourned at the news of the death of his treacherous son. The demise that the spirit of Absalom has planned will become his own.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">"Woe to the rebellious children," declares the LORD, "Who execute a plan, but not Mine, And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit, In order to add sin to sin;” Isaiah 30:1</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The role of the father is one of benevolence. His function is that of a provider and protector - and yes, a loving disciplinarian. The most innocent and vulnerable will find security in his care. According to its most vociferous adherents under a democratic government an unborn person has no right to live. Under a republican government the most precious will be guaranteed the right of life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The government of these United States is that of a Constitutional Republic. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>Two Wolves and A Lamb</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Benjamin Franklin said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.” I would suggest to you that the two wolves are the northeast and west coasts while the lamb is the rest of us in the middle. We will not allow ourselves to be the main course. It should then come as no surprise that the chief conspirators of this plot represent these two geographical regions. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;"><b>“Montani Semper Liberi” </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">From a Virginia State Senator - “There is an all out war on the Constitution. It is beginning in Virginia as it is the oldest legislative body in our nation and the birthplace of eight presidents.” Including the Father of our nation. We in West Virginia share in this heritage - and in the struggle. “Montani Semper Liberi” We are bondsmen to no one but God - and to Him we are also sons and daughters.</span><br />
<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-51992491361965628732020-01-20T08:09:00.000-05:002020-01-20T08:09:26.251-05:00“And to the Republic for which it stands...” The Divine Will <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">“And to the Republic for which it stands...” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Just watched an interview with one of the most conservative members of the U.S. Senate. He continually used the term “western democracies” and referred to our government as a “constitutional democracy.” This woeful misunderstanding is across the board. A state of confusion and ineptness can be the only result. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It is a republic that truly protects minority interests and safeguards them from the tyranny of the majority - democracy. In a true democracy small states would have no voice in the national government. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>DIVINE WILL</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Republic recognizes the Divine Will as the source of its origin. The democracy sees its right to rule in the will of the people. A Republic is a manifestation of the will of God being done on the earth. “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.” James 1:18 Feigning pious prayerfulness while denying the right to life of our most vulnerable citizens is evidence of nothing more than a deceptive “angel of light.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">From a young Ethiopian woman now a citizen of this Republic: “This country was founded upon the Constitution, was built on Godly principles and we’re gonna fight for that...And I just want to encourage you guys to pray every day for this nation.” She was addressing a meeting called by our Chief Executive. And then she began to pray...”Jesus I ask you to protect us and walk with us and in Jesus’ name the enemy tries to attack us every single day, He tries to discourage us but he has no room. He has no room, no more, and that’s all I have to say.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>SECURITY</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">A republic provides security - a democracy breeds insecurity. A republic will tolerate - even appreciate the democratic; but the democratic will seek to destroy the republic for it sees her as a threat. Initiative is encouraged in a republic while it is suppressed in a democracy. It is a republican form of government that has made this nation great through the release of innovation/invention/creativity - entrepreneurship. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>COUNTERFEIT </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As 1787 heralded the birth of a New Republic, 1789 witnessed the fore-shrouding of the democratic tragedy known as the French Revolution. A counterfeit only exists as a result of the genuine - and is parasitic. It will attempt to suck the lifeblood out of the living organism. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">‘Voltaire’s mad cry, “Down with the scoundrel,” was aimed at Christ himself, but this cry was merely the expression of the most hidden thought from which the French Revolution sprang. The fanatic outcry of another philosopher, “We no more need a God,” and the odious shibboleth, “No God, no Master,” of the Convention; —these were the sacrilegious watchwords which at that time heralded the liberation of man as an emancipation from all Divine Authority.’ [Abraham Kuyper. Lectures on Calvinism - Prime Minister of the Netherlands - 1901-05]</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">France which can be said to be one of the most secular - God-less - nations still celebrates July 14, 1789 - Bastille Day - as its primary national holiday. Yet, an impotent democracy had to rely of the might of a Republic to rescue it from oblivion in 1917 and then again in 1944. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>“one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”</b> </span>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-60673812939518894842020-01-05T17:05:00.000-05:002020-01-06T07:07:23.308-05:00and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidcF4x4vvYDmKVkHeBWoCAnlFGKbx91r4lXa8KeD56nGmleL59ttmZyX79Z83BIhNHLie0c5Jlm9mKfTgYnxK-HrSGZ37-g6xafbe45ZfvRlUAUDeh7AVO3Vn-677XH94sebxsJ64AJIw/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Romans 13:1</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Flag of the United States of America stands for the Republic. It does not stand for a democracy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>An Unalienable Right</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I noticed that many of those that replied to my recent post that the United States is a Republic and not a democracy were ex-military - as I am also. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance was added by General Dwight David Eisenhower = then President - to counter the encroaching threat of God-less socialism (communism).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We took an oath to protect and defend the rights of the people of this nation via fidelity to our Constitution. We are a Constitutional Republic. A constitution is superfluous in a democracy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first unalienable right in the Declaration of Independence is the Right to Life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>No Rights!?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yet many of our current presidential candidates would deny this right to the most vulnerable of our society - the unborn person. To quote one of the most prominent, “An unborn person has no rights.” These are the same ones who consistently refer to our system of government as a democracy. In a democracy if your rights are inconvenient to the majority you are discarded. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">James Madison, often called “the father of the Constitution” wrote, “Democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have, in general, been as short in their lives as they are violent in their deaths.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In the early 1800s, John Marshall, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court wrote, “Between a balanced republic and a democracy, the difference is like that between order and chaos.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>“Democracy?” </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">You won’t find the word “democracy” in either the Declaration of Independence or the U.S. Constitution. The United States of America was established as a Republic — period.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“A republic is guided by an overarching set of laws — a charter or constitution — which, in our country’s case, explicitly guarantees the individual’s rights against the desires of the majority. Each of us has the indisputable right to think, worship and vote anyway we want.” Diane Dimond </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is the right of the unborn person to live that can only be protected and preserved under a Republican form of government.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">“For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended.” Romans 13:3 </span><br />
<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-21363810589091149392019-12-14T19:24:00.000-05:002019-12-15T10:46:17.752-05:00Is the US a Republic or a Democracy? “A republic, madam—if you can keep it.” <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNGnpry_FkGM5M-lFUskEq9DEpwnWkksUlJZ__xWDxU-FWX7WJWNWUzFdADejLA-H5CpXzAYQg7c2wvxUU8wDt_97XEZs9J5lyc2r_uWUcp_4e5n-nbAFv6dsQ0acOAJNHHU0AHcBVmY/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="121" data-original-width="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmNGnpry_FkGM5M-lFUskEq9DEpwnWkksUlJZ__xWDxU-FWX7WJWNWUzFdADejLA-H5CpXzAYQg7c2wvxUU8wDt_97XEZs9J5lyc2r_uWUcp_4e5n-nbAFv6dsQ0acOAJNHHU0AHcBVmY/s1600/BetsyRossFlag.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">"You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes;” Deuteronomy 12:8 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As Benjamin Franklin emerged from Independence Hall at the close of the Constitutional Convention in September 1787, a woman approached and asked him what form of government the Convention had produced. Franklin responded, “A republic, madam—if you can keep it.”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is generally assumed that the government of the United States is a democracy. My intent in the following is to de-construct this unfortunate misunderstanding and to reconstruct that which is right and true.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This in a nutshell is the crisis facing our nation today. The assault currently being lodged against our Constitutionally Elected President is not against him personally but against the presidency itself - a key element of our republican form of government. And it is being launched by the only element of our government that could be said to be a democracy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The government of the United States of America is a republic - not a democracy. The majority of the people do not rule - the majority of the states rule! A pure democracy left unchecked will degenerate into anarchy or mob rule. A prime example of this from history is the French Revolution - anyone who opposed mob rule was permanently silenced. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre;"> </span><i>What, then, is a republic? A republican government is one in which the people—directly or indirectly—are the ultimate source of authority, electing representatives to make laws that serve their interests and advance the common good. A constitutional republic, however, also limits the power of the majority through a framework that promotes competent government and affords protections for fundamental rights.<span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our form of government has three equal branches. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of which - the legislative - is divided into two offices. The House of Representatives is elected via a majority of the people and thus as a democracy. The U.S. Senate is represented by a majority of the states and thus as a republic.<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The executive or the presidency is elected by the states via the Electoral College and is thus representative of a republican form of government. Those who would do away with the Electoral College would destroy the form of government that has guided our nation for almost 250 years and has made us the most influential, inventive, prosperous and generous the world has ever known. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The judicial is the U.S. Supreme Court and the Federal District Courts. These individuals are selected by the executive branch and ratified by the U.S. Senate. Thus they are also a product of a republic. And it is they that have the last word! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a result 16.67% of our government is representative of a democracy while the vast majority is representative of a republic. The attack being instigated in our day is against our republican form of government by a small minority and actually only by about half of that represented by only one political party. This is a contagion which if left unchecked would infect the rest of the body - its malignancy must be exposed and stopped. The remedy is the ballot - not the bullet. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This insurgency believes that if they can emasculate the presidency the way will be laid open to them to completely dismantle our republic. But I believe there is a person currently in the Executive Office that is impervious to emasculation. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As I was writing this I heard Alan Dershowitz say on TV, “It takes a strong executive to make a republic successful.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Is this an attempted coup? Yes, it is! It’s ultimate aim is the overthrow of our republic. The victory anthem of the Civil War was “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” not “of the democracy.” A democracy is inherently a weak form of government while a republic is one of strength. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And from our analogy of the Civil War a confederacy is doomed to fail for it has no strong central or federal government. </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Federalists (Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, Madison...) believed that the greatest threat to the future of the United States did not lie in the abuse of central power, but instead could be found in what they saw as the excesses of democracy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Interesting - today, December 15, is the national Bill of Rights Day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>The Bill of Rights provides perhaps the clearest example of the dichotomy between a democracy and a republic. It is simultaneously the most celebrated feature of our “democracy” and the most anti-democratic feature of our constitutional republic. The Bill of Rights provides heightened protection for fundamental liberties, protecting both natural rights, such as freedom of conscience, and civil rights, such as protection against arbitrary search and seizure. However, no matter how large the majority, one’s right to practice the religion of choice or to be free from arbitrary search by government officials cannot be abridged or simply voted away.<span style="font-size: x-small;">2</span> </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The tyranny of the majority - democracy - could do both.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So we must ask ourselves as Benjamin Franklin did - "We are a republic, can we keep it?" Resoundingly we must proclaim, “Yes, we can!” For Franklin also said, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.” I would suggest to you that the two wolves are the east and west coasts while the lamb is the rest of us in the middle. We will not allow ourselves to be the main course. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If not, our country will continue to shed the innocent blood of our most vulnerable citizens - the unborn person. Both Israel and then Judah were carried into captivity because they shed innocent blood - hopefully it is not too late for our nation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Footnotes 1 and 2</span> - </span><a href="https://www.docsoffreedom.org/student/readings/republican-government">https://www.docsoffreedom.org/student/readings/republican-government</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">(I have been advised by my one woman editorial board to identify myself as Pastor Ron Thaxton - and that I am a confirmed evangelical, I am just agnostic as to the way we often live out our faith.) </span><br />
<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-66865714484024951512019-10-25T04:31:00.000-04:002019-10-28T04:47:59.612-04:00On Earth As It Is In Heaven!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Or it could be said something like this, “May your will be done on earth as it is being done right at this very moment in the heavenly realm.” Heaven is a realm - not a place! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Our comprehension here is strengthened when we understand that the Greek word translated as kingdom is <i>basileia</i> which more properly means rule or realm. As N.T. Wright says the church has been lulled “into ignoring the real meaning... of ‘heaven’ (which is not a place within our universe at all, but God’s place, intersecting with our world in all sorts of ways). The Christian Celts would call these intersections “thin places” or where heaven comes near to earth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This truth is the key that will release the church to a fervency of realized expectation. But we must put the key in the door if we expect it to open. Once having opened we will get a vision of a panorama of sovereign design and purpose that will possess our hearts with a relentless grip.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet it seems that modern evangelicalism has left the key hanging on the wall. Could it be that there is a fear of losing control if the heavenly realm breaks into our present realities?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The key is revelation - telling God what He has told us to tell Him. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will have been loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:19 There is a nuance of tense in this translation that is extremely significant. It is not that which we bind or loose on earth that will then be bound or loosed in heaven (the common misconception) - it is that which has already been bound or loosed in heaven that will then be bound or loosed in the earth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It Is not our will that is ratified in heaven - it is His will that is ratified on the earth. “God also bearing witness with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.” Hebrews 2:4 Indeed, everything that He has ordained has already been finished from the foundation of the earth (Hebrews 4:3). And thus His church is inexorably drawn into this vortex of sovereign will and design. This is the diligence of the Sabbath rest of God - entering into that which He has already set in motion and will bring to fulfillment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“Many of us have treated the will of God as if it’s unknown or unknowable… God has not kept his desires secret: He wants the reality of heaven to invade this rebel-torn world, to transform it, to bring it under His headship.” Bill Johnson </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">“For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” Matthew 6:13</span>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-60956385169967146892019-10-08T04:54:00.002-04:002019-10-13T05:11:12.240-04:00Our House Is From Heaven <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, 2 Corinthians 5:2</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Our house - abode - is not in heaven. It is from heaven.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Yet she on earth hath union</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">with the God the Three in One,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">and mystic sweet communion</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">with those whose rest is won:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For the Son, His house was His Father’s house. That is where He was about His Father’s business. God does not live in a house - His house is the realm of His divine activity. It is not a place - it is a domain. That is, it is without walls. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And He said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?" NASB (Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” NKJV) Luke 2:29 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Henry Blackaby has taught the Body of Christ to “look and see what the Father is doing and join Him there.” When we are about what our Father is doing then we are clothed by His house which is from heaven.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We long to be clothed with His presence which makes us fit for His service - right now! His presence is the place of His sphere of action.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">When I receive a call on my mobile from my wife’s mobile phone it comes up “Home.” That is because, where she is is where my home is. So it is with our Father - when we receive a call from Him that is where our home is.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You didn't want heaven without us</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">So Jesus, You brought heaven down</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">My sin was great, Your love was greater</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What could separate us now</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">John 14:2 is not about some ethereal place in the sweet by and by and certainly not a mansion<span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span> (Who would want one anyway?) - it is about a very real relationship in the here and now. The word is “to abide” and is only used in one other place in the New Testament - "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode (home) with him.” John 14:23 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">“Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.” John 17:24 Where was He at this very time? In the present Presence of His Father. And that is where He was going to take them - and us - into the present Presence of the Father. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am. “I will come” is in the present tense - not the future.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Glorious things of thee are spoken,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Zion, city of our God;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">he whose word cannot be broken</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">formed thee for his own abode;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">John Newton </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not only is our dwelling in Him - but His dwelling is also in us. His house is not made of bricks and mortar - but of lively stones being built up into a spiritual house. "The spiritual house is the palace of the Great King.” ‘All history is the process of building up a "spiritual palace" out of a regenerate humanity, in order that, in the end, the Father Himself may occupy it.’ Charles Ellicott </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">1</span>The KJV word “mansion” is better translated as plenty of room or a great expanse. Some version say “many rooms” but that is also misleading for there are no walls or curtains in the House of God - for the veil has been torn in twain. </span><br />
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<br />Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-28801209673925353552019-10-01T05:22:00.000-04:002019-10-08T04:55:56.517-04:00The House of Perez - The Unerring Grace of God<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Moreover, may your house be like the house of Perez whom Tamar bore to Judah, through the offspring which the LORD will give you by this young woman." Ruth 4:12</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">This is the blessing spoken over Boaz by the elders of Israel when he had redeemed Ruth to be his wife. It was so that the bloodline of the tribe of Judah would continue unabated until it produced the Messiah - the Lion of the Tribe of Judah.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">It is also a witness to the overarching sovereign grace of God in the affairs of men. The Father’s unswerving intention triumphs every time. “for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.” 1 Samuel 14:6 That is, not by quantity or by quality - but by decree.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">We must never equate the Grace of God for a license to continue in sin. Indeed, Paul wrote to Titus: “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age,” Titus 2:11-12</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">Yet, God is not constrained to accomplish His purpose by human proclivity. For do you know the back-story of the conception and birth of Perez? Illegitimacy, prostitution, seduction, incest, adultery, lying... Tamar was Judah’s twice widowed daughter-in-law who posed as a temple prostitute to get him to impregnate her. And she is one of the four mothers listed in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">God will use those whom He chooses for He chooses not because they are choice, but they become choice as a result of His choosing. Election is not based on foreknowledge - foreknowledge is the outcome of election.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23</span></span>Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-187141504589732132019-07-09T08:11:00.000-04:002019-07-09T08:11:16.029-04:00The Impassioned One <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="98" data-original-width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPbpALfUFUcjqWRDby8vkNhNHBaAZTbi31ECyutrkJbhG0LXGM2lvh54cmKMZrf1AVk_x5xcZVyEYP1n3zbZN_23MGVCGb1H1W7zOIMvop1epYezRZWCFaRaqicTTbGPudsea26BBu7h0/s1600/quill.jpeg" /></a><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If I had one word to describe the recent Capital Region Prayer Gathering it would be this - passion! Indeed it was one of the most passionate prayer gatherings I have ever experienced. Our worship leader was doing all that he could to keep in step with the Spirit - which is a good thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But what was it? I believe it is necessary for us to understand at least in a measure what undergirds our experiences. Of course - at least on this side of the veil - there will always be something of the ways of the Lord that are a mystery, yet it is the function of the church to bring revelation to that which is a mystery (Ephesians 3:10).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am convinced we stepped into a thin place by His compulsion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is a thin place? In Celtic Christianity it is place where heaven and earth come especially close together which results in an awesomeness of the Presence and Power of God. It can be a geographical location, a particular season of time - or it can be the convergence of the purpose of God with the people of God. It may have some or all of these characteristics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">An author has written: “A truly thin place is any environment that invited transformation in us, helping us as believers in Jesus to think and see and understand as He does. Any place that creates a space and an atmosphere that inspires us to be honest before God and to listen to the deep murmurings of His Spirit within us is thin.”</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had shared concerning thin places at our recent PrayWV Summit and then Pastor Jay Morgan introduced this concept at this regional gathering. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Great Kanawha Valley of West Virginia is just such a thin place - for at one time the river burned with fire as the result of the rich deposits of salt, oil and gas in its banks. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In the spiritual we believe this speaks to us of God’s passionate purifying zeal for His people and as we attract His white hot gaze by consecration and supplication we too will be set ablaze with our passionate desire for Him and the fulfillment of His purpose. In the Hebrew Scriptures God is often referred to as "El Kanah" (early spelling of Kanawha - Kanawagh or Kanhawa) or "I am a jealous God." The following scripture takes the meaning of this word one step further, Exodus 34:14 "...for you must not worship any other god, because the Lord, whose name is Impassioned, is an impassioned God" (Tanakh, The Holy Scriptures).</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Also, Deuteronomy 4:24 "For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, an impassioned God.” </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">W.E. Vine says, "While the word is used in our language in an evil sense, it has a somewhat different meaning, especially in the Old Testament. It is often used in connection with the marriage relation, and, in this respect, the relation between Jehovah and Israel. Just as jealousy in husband or wife is the forceful assertion of an exclusive right, so God asserts His claim, and vindicates it, on those who are His sole possession." “Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3</span><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> longs for the Spirit He has caused to dwell in us?” James 4:5 </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a community in the Kanawha Valley called Burning Springs so named because the salt water, gas and oil came forth from the ground together and could be ignited. It was said that anything tossed into the flame was hungrily consumed and the fire was very difficult to extinguish. (Hebrews 12:29* ...for our God is a consuming fire.")</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A release of this passion is what we were allowed to enter into by our Sovereign Lord - Adonai Elohim. It was a prophetic expression of that which He desires to do in our community and throughout our state.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And this is what I scribbled on a piece of paper that evening - The prophetic (ekklesia) stands in the sanctuary to minister to the Lord - the apostolic (diaspora) walks the streets to minister to the community. All under the watchful eye of the King.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 Balzer, Tracy; Thin Places; Leafwood Publications, Abilene, TX, 2007, p. 29</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 You must not bow down to another god, because the LORD is passionate: the LORD's name means "a passionate God." CEB</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3 The jealousy of God is a reference to His passion for His elect.</span><br />
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Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5015626370529952885.post-19596641324362616832019-04-05T05:19:00.000-04:002019-04-06T05:39:44.204-04:00Peter And Paul - Justice And Righteousness Kiss<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUNFvQVDMiq0OpjWUoAxc1eBxS-P9qyd8d7XuNkKFTRH5uTo6hQEHddVWIJGB3CsDZoGM6wozkWst3vRQmULoK0GlmVo97myAL2cHr9nJn3ciXUdlWWEg6wDE3OtpSSjEDQlXJ9Lm52c/s1600/peterandpaul2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="252" data-original-width="200" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPUNFvQVDMiq0OpjWUoAxc1eBxS-P9qyd8d7XuNkKFTRH5uTo6hQEHddVWIJGB3CsDZoGM6wozkWst3vRQmULoK0GlmVo97myAL2cHr9nJn3ciXUdlWWEg6wDE3OtpSSjEDQlXJ9Lm52c/s200/peterandpaul2.jpg" width="158" /></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Peter and Paul - the twin foundational pillars of the church. In them justice and righteousness kiss - to the Glory of God!. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">They would die together, Peter and Paul, the pillars. This insight is provided by Michael Card - a psalmist/theologian.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is a painting from a Romanian Orthodox Cathedral of Peter and Paul supporting the church. There they both are, Peter and Paul. And between them they are holding up the church, Christ’s church. (Represented by a building.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">From Michael Card, “We need the passion for correctness that we find in Paul (vertical toward God - righteousness). But we also need the stable bridge of Peter to continue to help us cross over (horizontal toward mankind - justice).” It is at the Cross of Christ that we find these two foundational principles intrinsically bound together. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paul holds in his hand an elaborate volume (indicating the depth of his knowledge) while Peter only a simple small scroll (which may represent his two epistles).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paul’s death would be by beheading befitting only to a Roman citizen, Peter would suffer the ignominy of being crucified upside down identifying with all peoples. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yet, what they did they did together in oneness. Their martyrdom was at about the same time and in Rome under the murderous regime of Nero. Their testimony has become a lasting memorial before God and before men. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Peter was a businessman while Paul was a priest. Together they constitute a royal priesthood as is all the Church of Christ. May we not gravitate toward one or the other, but embrace them both in their fulness.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It is the two working in concert - harmony - that builds up the Body of Christ. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Justice And Righteousness Kiss:</span><br />
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Ron Thaxtonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14239869843970381681noreply@blogger.com0