Dangerous Trends - Churches Promoting Self Happiness Over God's Holiness
Michael Brown/AskDrBrown.org ~ August 26, 2019
I have often said the contrast between the contemporary American gospel and the biblical gospel is this: The contemporary American version says, "This is who I am. This is how I feel. And God is here to please me." The biblical version says, "This is who God is. This is how He feels. And I am here to please God."

Consequently, in our modern version of the gospel, "sin" is defined as anything that hurts me or makes me uncomfortable. In the biblical version, "sin" is defined as anything that grieves the Lord or is contrary to His nature.

The difference between the two concepts is vast. Without exaggeration, it is the difference between life and death.

It is true, of course, that sin hurts us as well, since, in the end, sin is never worth it. But something is not sinful simply because it harms us. Instead, it is sinful because God says it is, whatever His reason might be.

That means it doesn't matter if, for a season, we enjoy our sin or if, for the moment, our sin is profitable or pleasurable. What matters is that God says it is sin. End of subject.

A Confusing Statement
Recently, a church ministry which has consistently reached out to the LGBT community with the gospel while stating plainly that homosexual behavior is sinful posted a very confusing statement.

This ministry, which promotes the possibility of change through the gospel, explained that, "God loves all people, LGBTQ+ and straight. The message of CHANGED has never been 'All Must Change.' We share these stories specifically for Christians who are unfulfilled in identifying as LGBTQ+. For those of you who feel fulfilled and happy as you are, we love you!"

It's the same message for everyone. Gay. Straight. Promiscuous. Celibate. Single. Married. "Be holy, because your God is holy!"

The statement continued, "God doesn't force people to change, and people -- including Christians -- shouldn't force others to change, either. We stand against any and all forms of shame, manipulation, force, humiliation, or physical harm in so-called 'ministry' or therapy."

I understand, of course, that this statement is responding to controversy about so-called "conversion therapy" and the notion that Christians are trying to force gays to change. In that context, some of this statement makes sense.

And I stand with these precious men and women who have found new life in Jesus, even while being scorned and mocked by the larger LGBT community.

I also agree that God loves all people, regardless of how they live or identify.

Scripture is Clear: Be Holy
But it is imperative we also explain that:

1) God is not pleased with all lifestyles and behaviors and identities.
2) We will all give account to Him one day.
3) Jesus died to forgive us all our sins and to grant us transformation and new life.
4) While God does not simply call us to change -- whoever we are and however we live -- He does call us to repent. And you can be assured that repentance means a changed life.

That's why these sentences are both dangerous and misleading: "We share these stories specifically for Christians who are unfulfilled in identifying as LGBTQ+. For those of you who feel fulfilled and happy as you are, we love you!"

Does this mean that if you're happy being a "gay Christian" God is happy with that? If you're "fulfilled" in your same-sex relationship, the Lord is OK with it? That you can be active "LGBTQ+ Christian"? Absolutely, categorically not.

Jesus calls us to holiness, not fulfillment, to obedience, not happiness. He calls us to deny ourselves, not indulge ourselves. And that means taking up our cross. Daily. (See Luke 9:23.)

That doesn't mean we tell a gay person, "You must become straight!" Rather, we tell them, "You must be holy, by the grace and power of God!"

It's the same message for everyone. Gay. Straight. Promiscuous. Celibate. Single. Married. "Be holy, because your God is holy!"

Sin is Sin. Period.
As expressed by Peter: “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy.’ If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth." 1 Peter 1:13-17 (NASB)

This is not coercion. This is not manipulation. This is not peer pressure or shaming. God forbid.

In that regard, I affirm what the statement was trying to say. I too "stand against any and all forms of shame, manipulation, force, humiliation, or physical harm in so-called 'ministry' or therapy." So does every Christian therapist and counselor and psychologist I know. Absolutely.

And I certainly believe that God's ways are ways of life. That following Him brings ultimate fulfillment. That walking with Jesus brings perfect peace and inexpressible, glorious joy.

But let's be perfectly clear. Sin is sin regardless of how we feel about it. Sin is sin regardless of whether it brings us temporary happiness or fulfillment. And all same-sex relationships -- by which I mean sexual and/or romantic -- are always sinful in God's sight.

In solidarity with Him, then, we offer everyone forgiveness of sins, acceptance in the Father's family, eternal life, and a radically transformed life.

That is the power of the gospel. Let us proclaim it without fear, apology, or shame.

Kevy himself is a victim of Common Core math...1 + 0 = 2

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Never mind it ignores due process. Just a nasty little detail that should be ignored, eh Kevie?

It's Trump's fault of course!

They hang out with unicorns.

WTF??!!

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Why Socialism, and Why Now?
Victor Davis Hanson ~ August 29, 2019
"Socialist!" is no longer a McCarthyite slur.

Rather, the fresh celebrity "Squad" of newly elected identity-politics congresswomen -- Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) -- often either claim to be socialists or embrace socialist ideas. A recent Harris poll showed that about half of so-called millennials would like to live in a socialist country.

Five years ago, septuagenarian Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.) was considered an irrelevant lone socialist in the U.S. Senate -- Vermont's trademark contribution to cranky quirkiness. But in 2016, Sanders' improbable Democratic primary run almost knocked off front-runner Hillary Clinton, even as socialist governments were either imploding or stagnating the world over.

After Clinton's loss to Donald Trump in the 2016 general e******n, Sanders is back, running as a socialist warhorse, promising endless amounts of free stuff, with those promises suddenly being taken seriously.

Sanders, like the members of the Squad, has limited political power. But the celebrity and social media influence of these new and retread socialists has been on the upswing -- especially in the current 21st-century climate of radical t***sformations in economic and political life.

Note the shock over Clinton's 2016 defeat, the furor directed at a take-no-prisoners Trump, and sudden progressive criticism of the Obama presidency as too temporizing, weak and ineffectual. And there are still other undercurrents that explain why currently socialism polls so well among young Americans.

College-educated Americans collectively owe an estimated $1.5 trillion in unpaid student loans. Many of these debtors despair of ever paying back the huge sums.

Cancelling debt is an ancient socialist rallying cry. Starting over with a clean slate appeals to those "oppressed" with college loans.

A force multiplier of debt is the realization that many students borrowed to focus on mostly irrelevant college majors. Such degrees usually offer few opportunities to find jobs high-paying enough to pay back staggering obligations.

Asymmetrical globalization over the last 30 years has created levels of wealth among the elite never envisioned in the history of civilization. In addition to these disparities, "free" but unfair trade, especially with China and to a lesser extent with the European Union, Japan and South Korea, hollowed out the interior of the United States, impoverishing and diluting the once-solid middle class. Warped free trade and Chinese buccaneerism, not free-market capitalism per se, impoverished millions of Americans.

Lots of young people claim to be socialists but are instead simply angry because they cannot afford a home, a new car or nice things in their "woke" urban neighborhoods.

Usually, Americans become more traditional, self-reliant and suspicious of big government as they age. Reasons for such conservatism have often included early marriage, child-raising, home ownership and residence in a suburb, small town or rural area.

Today's youth are generally marrying later. Most have few if any children. Twenty- and thirty-somethings are not buying homes as quickly or easily as in the past. They are concentrating in the urban centers of big- and medium-sized coastal blue cities such as Boston, New York, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle -- but often in dead-end jobs that pay them just enough to get by and enjoy the perks of cool life in the big city.

These are the ingredients for a culture that emphasizes the self, blames others for a sense of personal failure and wants instant social justice.

Finally, schools and colleges have replaced the empirical study of economics, history and politics with race, class and g****r indoctrination.

Few young activists of the old Occupy Wall Street bunch, and few of the current violent A****a street fighters, know the 20th century history of "socialists" who were actually hardcore c*******ts. Cambodian dictator Pol Pot, Soviet Union strongman Joseph Stalin and Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong each k**led millions of their own people.

Today's students romanticize Che Guevara and Fidel Castro because they are clueless about their bloody careers. The Castro government for over a half-century was responsible for the murders of thousands of Cubans and Latin Americans in efforts to solidify Cuban "socialism" throughout Latin America.

When our schools and colleges do not teach unbiased economics and history, then millions of youth have no idea why the United States, Great Britain, Germany and Japan became wealthy and stable by embracing free-market capitalism and constitutional government. Few learn why naturally rich nations such as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela -- or entire regions such as Central America, Eastern Europe and Southeast Asia -- have traditionally lagged far behind due to years of destructive central planning, socialist economics and coerced c*******t government.

The handmaiden of failed socialist regimes has always been ignorance of the past and present. And that is never truer than among today's American college-degreed (but otherwise economically and historically illiterate) youth.

In other words: Faith in God PLUS my works = justification/salvatiion

God + me = justification/salvatiion

Now THAT'S unbiblical!!!

What do liberals want? They want to:

• Rewrite history
• Ban the Pledge of Allegiance
• Ban prayer
• Ban the US f**g because it offends some people
• Control you with government regulations
• Control your major life decisions
• Control your speech
• Control minorities
• Control your money
• Open borders
• I*****L i*********n
• Make laws that only apply to one group of people
• Murder unborn children but allow convicted murderers to live
• High taxes and needless regulations that hurt business growth
• Do the same thing over and over and expect a different result
• Punish law-abiding people while not stopping criminals from breaking the law
• To say that George W. Bush a bad President but Barack Obama is a good one
• Policies that are filled with contradictions and hypocrisy all over the place

The list goes on indefinitely but you get the picture…

You have a short memory...I’ll repeat…

I believe you are referring to these two verses.

Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. James 2:17 (NASB)
A faith without works is not real faith at all. It is only a matter of words. James is not saying that we are saved by faith plus works. To hold such a view would be to dishonor the finished work of Christ on the cross. If we were saved by faith plus works, then there would be two saviors—Jesus and ourselves. But the NT is very clear that Christ is the one and only Savior. What James is emphasizing is that we are not saved by a faith of words only but by that kind of faith which results in a life of good works. In other words, works are not the root of salvation but the fruit; they are not the cause but the effect.

For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead. James 2:26 (NASB)
Here the matter is summarized very beautifully. James compares faith to the human body. He likens works to the spirit. The body (faith) without the spirit (works) is lifeless, useless, valueless. So, faith without works is dead, ineffective, worthless. Obviously, it is a false faith, not genuine saving faith.

This CLEARLY summarizes that we are saved by faith alone and that works are an EVIDENCE of faith.

On last thing…here’s ANOTHER biblical support of salvation by faith alone. I’m sorry if you cannot understand this. Maybe you should go to the throne room and ask for discernment through the Holy Spirit.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8-9 (NASB)

Couldn't be plainer.

Saved faith...works fruit.

So simple even a caveman can understand it! LOL!

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You Hitlery people must be pretty fickle then.