We Have Won!

Traditional marriage has suffered a flurry of defeats in the past few years. Several more states, including Washington, New Jersey, and Colorado now allow "gay marriage." This has opened up some high-profile lawsuits: a florist in Seattle has been sued for refusing to sell flowers for a gay wedding, and a photographer in Colorado is being sued for refusing to take photos at a gay wedding.

The Defense of Marriage Act (one of the few laudable accomplishments from President Clinton's regrettable administration) has been all but completely done away with. Phil Robertson (of the uber-popular Duck Dynasty reality show) has been ostracized for anti-gay comments he recently made. A man is legally marrying a woman in a state that does not recognize his out-of-state marriage to another man. (Whaaat?!? I'm sure the liberals are hoping he's not claiming that he's been "cured" of his gay tendencies.) The media and school curriculums continue trying to convince us that same-sex families are just as "normal" as traditional ones. And just recently, an activist judge has ruled Utah's ban on "gay marriage" unconstitutional, ushering in a flood of marriage applications.

As Christians, we are clearly losing the battle for true marriage. So how can I claim that we've won?

The answer is simple: Jesus won the battle against sin and death when He gave Himself as a perfect sacrifice on the cross. The Bible promises us that when He returns, He will do so as a conquering King, who will carry out judgment against all the sinners of this world. So, we do not need to hang our heads in defeat. This world was lost when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, but Christ declared to Pontius Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence" (John 18:36).

God's kingdom on this earth is the collection of born-again followers of Jesus Christ. Our duty is to continue to strive to lead individuals to repentance, and while that does include standing up against our culture's embrace of sins like sodomy, promiscuity, and greed, the end-goal is saving souls.

To this end, I will devote my next few posts to presenting logical arguments defending the Biblical view of traditional marriage. The results I leave up to God.

"These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33).

Merry Xmas, Everyone!

"Xmas???" you ask in disbelief. Isn't that disrespectful to our Lord? Shouldn't we say (and write) "Christmas" instead, to avoid the world's effort to "X out" Christ from this over-commercialized holiday?

My father-in-law, one of the most truly-dedicated Christians I've ever known, abhors the term, and I must admit I'm not comfortable with using it myself. However, I learned a couple years ago that the "X" is actually a reference to Christ's name in ancient Greek! In fact, this article from HowStuffWorks enlightens Christians with some very interesting facts about this oft-maligned term:

• "X" is not English or Latin, but the Greek letter chi. It is pronounced "kai", as in "kaiser".
• The illustration above (copied from the article) is the Greek symbol "chi-rho", an amalgamation of the Greek letters chi and rho (pronounced "row"), which represent the Greek word "Christos", which means "Christ".
• "Xmas" dates back to 15th century Europe, as a reverent abbreviation of "Christmas."
• Other variations of the term can be traced as far back as the year 1021.

Now on the other hand, we are to avoid even the semblance of evil. Just as words found in the King James Bible are now considered profanity, we should avoid the use of "Xmas", if we feel it would offend other Christians in our presence. However, we should also make an effort to set the record straight, in the pursuit of truth and peace.

And before you ask, the name of Egypt's capital, Cairo, has nothing to do with Christ or Greek, but is derived from Arabic.

Merry Christmas, everyone! And have a joyous Advent Season!

America: Nation of Christians or Christian Nation?

Before I get too much into our country's modern moral quagmires, I want to lay some sort of foundation, a background, if you will, to explain where I'm coming from. I'm fully aware that even within the Christian community, debates rage on, from our founding fathers' beliefs, to whether or not we even have any business getting into politics at all.

Even though I've decided to use the American flag as the recurring theme in my blog, and I will often bewail the sad moral degradation in this, my adopted country, I do not hold to any claims that the U.S. is or should be a nation of Christians or a Christian nation. Nor do I believe that it is destined to be the political embodiment of God's Kingdom.

With respect to the former, whether one serves the One True God is an intimate issue between that person and God. While I believe that nothing but good things can come from a society whose members are born of the Spirit and live according to Christ's two commandments, it is contrary to the teachings of Jesus that anyone (or any government) should shove a belief system down anyone's throat. (More on that, in posts to come!!!)

Regarding the latter (God's Kingdom), if when Jesus returns, He decides to establish an earthly kingdom, it will most likely be an entirely new entity. The U.S. was founded by men; God's Kingdom was founded by God. BIG difference there. :)

So how do I view the U.S.? I see it as a country that was founded on Biblical principles, by men and women who, for the most part, believed in and lived according to those principles, and that without them, we will see the moral decline of the past hundred years continue. But, as I mentioned in that tract, if we Christians stand up for that we know to be right, and lead others to the Savior, this country may yet turn around. I hope and pray that this blog will reach out, past my usual circle of like-minded readers, and serve as a beacon of light, toward that goal.

In the Beginning... (Part 2)

For our first anniversary, my wife gave me a porcelain eagle statue, covered with the American flag. This picture reminds me of that. It also suggests vigilance. There are many areas that we can be vigilant (homeland security, crime, entertainment choices, etc...), but the most important is being on-guard against the wiles of the devil, personally and as a society. Sure, not everyone believes in God, the Bible, or a place called Hell, but that doesn't mean they're not real. For ages, people did not believe in microscopic life or sub-atomic particles, and yet they exist in unfathomable abundance.

So, to continue the story I started last time, I finished the tract and decided to distribute it to everyone I could think of. I wrote the following cover letter:

Dear Friend,

I am writing to you on a matter of urgent importance for our great country. Our nation, under God, has been straying farther and farther from Him, descending into the murky depths of immorality. This is plain to see, if you just turn on a TV, pick up a newspaper, or surf the Internet, and judge what you see by the Bible. This wasn’t a result of the efforts of any single person, group, or organization; we all contributed, either by direct action or passive inaction. I’ve never gotten involved in political issues, but recently, prompted by the latest debates on same-sex marriage, the Lord showed me that I could no longer remain on the sidelines. As an American and a Christian, it is my duty to do whatever I can to help steer the country back in the right direction.

After much prayer, the Lord Jesus inspired me to write the enclosed tract, “Lift Up the Standard in America.” It is my deep and sincere wish that every American above the age of 12 would read it. So, I am sending it out, by post and e-mail, to everyone that I can think of: friends, family, churches, elected officials, TV and radio stations, magazines, newspapers, etc…. None of us can do anything of significance alone, but if enough people wake up to the truth and get involved, wonderful changes will start to take place. I kindly request that you read this tract with your family, discuss it, and share it with others.

The fate of our nation rests not upon ourselves, but upon our relationship with the One who created us. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” As I continue to pray for our country, I urge everyone to do the same. I thank you for taking the time to read this letter and tract. May God bless America… again!

To be continued...

In the Beginning...

Welcome to my new blog, dedicated to lifting up God's standard (as in: flag), against an enemy flooding in from every side! So why is the above picture that of an American flag, instead of a cross or Star of David? Just as God has adopted me into His family, so has America adopted me, an immigrant, as one of its own. And just as God founded His Church on the Rock, Jesus Christ, this country was founded on God's Written Word, the Bible.

First, a little history, not of this country, but of the inspiration behind this blog.

The year was 2003, and Massachussetts was on the brink of becoming the first state in the Union to allow same-sex marriages. My wife and I were outraged. Not sure what we could do about it, we prayed for guidance. The Lord soon inspired me to write a tract, whose title I borrowed from Isaiah 59:19.

"So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him."

I loved the double meaning of the word, "standard!" In a simpler age, it meant "flag", but now it more often refers to something against which all other things are judged. And to "lift up" that standard means not only to display it proudly for the world to see, but also to raise the bar, by which our actions and our morals are to be judged. What a wonderful illustration, around which to frame the goal of returning this fallen nation (and world) to its long-forgotten, high moral standard, that was once founded on God's Word!

To be continued...