The Rise of the New Church! Starring: The Government!

"35 ‘For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ‘And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ‘When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ " - Matthew 25:35-40

This is the mandate to Christians, from Jesus. We are told to help the less fortunate because when we help them we are really helping Jesus. 

Has anyone else noticed that The Government has started to try and fill this roll? What is the place of The Church when The Government takes over? The Government will fill all of our needs. This may seem like a far fetched idea but in reality it is really not. The Government wants to start taking care of all of our health needs. The Government wants to feed every hungry person on the streets. The Government wants to clothe every needy person on the street. The Government wants to be the salvation of the country. 

When a Bureaucrat looks at "Separation of Church and State" they see The Church getting in the way of The Government. When The Church looks at the same clause we see The Government trying to get in the way of our belief system. Who is right? Imitation is the greatest form of flattery they say. The Church has been feeding the hungry, clothing the needy, and saving the lost far longer then government has existed. By this I mean to say that, the clause of separation is meant to keep The Government out of The Church. When was the last time you saw The Church make an attempt to take over The Government in the USA? 

The Government is like a habitual glutton. You feed them, and they just want more. The smallest scrap of power will make The Government hunger for more. This may sound like a conspiracy theory of sorts, and maybe it is. The machine we call the government will not stop till its all consuming. Look at the recent proposal to cut deductions to non profits. Who does this target? It overwhelmingly targets churches! Who is targeted when children are told to not pray in school? Who is targeted when people want "In God We Trust" removed? 

I would propose to you that The Church is the enemy of the state. We are a country founded on God, but now God has gotten in the way. The Church has become a prostitute of sorts. We have used The Church and now we will cast her to the street. 

Israel failed miserably when they stopped following God. Is the same future in store for us? I pray to God not. 

Love By It's Fruits

"If, therefore, one knew by the leaves that a tree was of a certain kind but in teh fruit season found that it bore no fruit-then one would know that it really was not the tree which according to the leaves it appeared to be." - Soren Kierkegaard.

A simple idea put in a very elegant manner. We can say we are a Christian and our leaves can show it, but if our actions or fruit don't reflect that then we really aren't what we say or proclaim to be.

The Sickness Unto Death

I figured I would start my first post with an explanation of what the title of my blog means. The title comes from a book written by Soren Kierkegaard of the same name. Soren Kierkegaard was a Danish philosopher from the 19th century. He is considered by some to be one of the fathers of existentialism. While I dont ascribe to this philosophical belief system I still respect him a great deal. One of the great things Soren intended to do was make his wittings have deep meaning. He did not offer up his ideas on a silver platter for the reader to consume. He worked towards his philosophy like a math teacher works towards a mathematical function. For one to truly understand what Soren was saying, one must work through his ideas and through the process. This is evident in the ideas he presented.

My favorite topic, from Kierkegaard, is The Sickness Unto Death. While sounding like some sort of plague or horrible disease that one can not get rid of, it actualy presents a message of hope to everyone who is lost in despair. The Sickness Unto Death is not any of the illnesses we worry about day to do. The Sickness is not our lack of money or our lack of friends or anything of that sort. The true Sickness Unto Death is sin, or despair as Soren speaks of it. To me, that gives great comfort. We are plagued by all of these "Sicknesses" on a daily basis. We are angry because someone cuts us off in traffic, we get the flu, or even lose our job! But what do these things really matter? These are not the sickness unto death. These are not the things that bring true death. The death of ones soul is the true death. The sickness that causes this death is one of greater consequence then any other.

I dont pretend to live a perfect life or have perfect ideas, I just write in the search of finding a closer harmony with that perfect idea.

"The biggest danger, that of losing oneself, can pass off in the world as quietly as if it were nothing; every other loss, an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. is bound to be noticed." - Soren Kierkegaard