Friday, April 27, 2012

What Happens When People View Government as God?


(UPDATE: No politician or government could have stopped Hurricane Sandy from hitting the Northeast on October 29. There is a limit to what man and government can do.)   

So what happens when people use government as a sort of god - a fixit for all their problems? Pastor and Dr. Tony Evans gives a most amazing analogy in Part 2 of a radio series, “How Should Christians Vote”?

Using 1 Samuel 8 in the Old Testament, Dr. Evans illustrates what happens “When Government Replaces God” - that when the people in charge don’t do what they’re supposed to be doing, those whom they lead will clamor for different leadership. But unbeknown to the masses, what will become of them when they entrust their freedoms, their finances and their families to powerful new rulers?
Listen to Dr. Evans’ Part 2 here by hitting 'play' or select podcast or MP3. When done, close the box and scroll down on the original link to see the rest of the segments.

I’ve long admired Dr. Evans’ books and sermons, and just had to let my readers know about this series.
No man, woman, Democrat or Republican, liberal, moderate or conservative can be our economic, political or social savior. America’s problem is not one of policies, arguments or money issues. America’s problem is the condition of her heart – as a whole and that of her individuals.

America is in the shape she’s in because many Bible believers, or those who call themselves so, have voted according to what’s left in their wallet, or according to whether they’ve always had a D or R on their voter’s card, rather than praying and voting according to what the candidate stands for.
Yes, God has always placed people in government leadership (Romans 13:1), but I believe He’s done so according to what His people have asked for through their actions.

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV).
Because they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting...not only those who do the same but also those who approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:28,32 paraphrased from NKJV).

(Photo: U. S. Capitol, in public domain at wikimedia commons)
(This writer is not receiving any recognition or compensation for mentioning the above link, nor is she connected with Dr. Evans' ministry in any way.)
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Thursday, April 19, 2012

Are We in 'The Country of the Blind'?

H.G. Wells (1866-1946) wrote a story called “The Country of the Blind.” A mountaineer falls from a ledge and lands in a country where everyone is blind. All they see is what they’ve made up in their own imaginations. Therefore, they also make up their own truths.
                                                            
They make everything and do everything to suit their own needs. When the mountaineer tries to tell them of things seen by eyesight, they ridicule him.

He concludes to himself they have "unformed minds," and they don’t know they've been insulting their “Heaven-sent King and master...”

The longer he is ridiculed, and even whipped, he begins a mantra: “The one-eyed Man is King in the country of the blind.” He begins to think that he can somehow become their ruler.

Then, he falls in love with one of the blind women and wants to marry her. But the town doctor tells the elders that the mountaineer’s eyes are disturbing his brain. The doctor convinces everyone that the only cure is to remove the mountaineer’s eyes. The woman loves him, but goes along with the rest of the town when they say he must become blind in order to marry her, so that their heritage is not breached.

The mountaineer at first agrees to the surgery, out of his love for the woman.

But as the surgery gets closer, he goes outside to see the beautiful world he believes God made, and decides he can’t do it. He leaves, escaping into the wilderness, content to have escaped from their valley – even though he once thought he could be King. His sight was more important to him.

This reminds me of everything going on in our politically correct society today. Modern educators are trained to tell our children “there is no absolute truth.” At the same time, in the name of “tolerance,” they remove the students’ opportunities to use critical thinking – you must accept diversity the way we want you to see diversity.

In order to maintain this PC balance, everyone gets a trophy so no one’s ego is bruised. Tolerance is redefined as Acceptance, and Disagreement is redefined as Hate. And the only ones who Hate are the ones who challenge this new system.

To justify this system, we must either pretend God doesn’t exist, or we must pretend that Jesus would allow everything because he was all about peace, love and joy.

The preacher A.W. Tozer once said, "The atheist and unbeliever are in darkness; I have some understanding for these. But the liberal is the man who puts his own eyes out" (The Tozer Pulpit, Vol.1 Book 1, Chapter 14).

Fortunately, the mountaineer awoke to the beauty of God’s creation before allowing his eyes to be put out. He valued God above all things, even above the possibility of becoming King.

Tozer also concludes that the liberal who puts out his own eyes [so he will not see] cannot destroy the Church or the witness of Jesus Christ. Where do you fit? In the Country of the Blind, or escaping with the mountaineer?
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