Things I Think

Laura Scott says:

Amen and amen to #7. Reading the reactions on various social media sites, this message is of utmost importance.

The blood is always going to be the final word. The enemy uses the blood that steals, kills, and destroys to obscure the blood that saves, heals, and rebuilds.

Em says:

#6 …?… i am confused … whose helpers? those behind the killers? if so, praying that God blesses us with success and their speedy deaths – i think that those who are advising to find the ISL head and cut it off have the only viable solution to these marauding psychos

yes, first pray that they repent, that God may forgive them when they ask Him to and may they do so before we find them and kill them

just sayin 🙂

Paige says:

Fred Rogers: When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

Em says:

that is a lovely thing, Paige … Mr. Rogers was not part of my children’s growing up, i’m afraid and i wish i’d been wise enough to tell my children that – i must say tho, that my 4 children understood the principle … one year at Christmas they came to me and said that they’d talked it over and wanted the money that would be spent on their presents to be sent to an orphanage in Africa, they meant it and we did and they never said a thing, no brags and no complaints – even if Mr. Rogers and his little train and Mr. McFeely weren’t our cup of tea

Steve Wright says:

filbertz…not to mention the ISIS bombing of the Russian plane a mere two weeks ago that killed more than died in Paris. Where was facebook to change the profiles to the Russian flag?

In fact, one had to look hard in the western media to find the confirmation a few days later that this plane “crash” was in fact not a crash at all, but an Islamic terrorist attack by ISIS

Pastor Al says:

Liberal Hug-a-Terrorist policies don’t work.

Europe is reaping what it’s sown…and we will, too.

The rednecks in Idaho are ready to rumble. It’s a powder-keg. It’s best if our Gov. halts the refugee programs and influx. The dirty secret is big “Christian” and big Liberal “non-profits” make Millions each year from taxpayer funded Govt. grants to run these bull***t programs. The cost per refugee is ridiculous. Spend that money on our immediate “neighbor” like our homeless Veterans and our own poor.

Agree with Ms. ODM. There’s “loving your neighbor” and there’s being a sucker and easy mark. Seems the Old Testament differentiated between the two…but you guys don’t really believe the bible, no one really believes all of it, just the parts their Gurus and Denoms like.

Pastor Al says:

We’ll see what Throckmorton is made of now.

It’s been relatively easy for him up to this point. The lawsuits have a way of thinning out the herd quite a bit. I’m the Last Man Standing in my many years long battle with CC and BG. Everyone caved.

We’ll see if Warren has the stones to see this through and stand firm.

My guess is he caves. He’s too nice to be as tough as it takes to go all in, win lose or draw.

( |o )====::: says:

“#9 means if they are hungry feed them — does not mean bring them into your camp so they can kill your wives and children. Loving your enemy doesn’t mean you feel all gushy about them. It was the niceness of Europe toward their enemies, allowing them into the camp, that has now endangered their friends.”

If only we has a seasonally appropriate story about middle-eastern people seeking refuge and being turned away by the heartless…

Steve Wright says:

I have yet to see anywhere in the Bible where God’s love for people is demonstrated somewhere besides the cross. If there is some other manner (food, health, safety) then clearly God does not love everyone in the world because a lot of people are suffering, believers and unbelievers alike, due to no fault of their own. That is not to say that God does not provide every good thing, or we owe Him our very breath. But for every person who thanks God that the hurricane missed their house, or the cancer was cured by the chemo there is some other person whose house was destroyed or whose life cut short by the cancer.

God also said that we are to flee from the people who would kill us for our faith. To move to safety where such enemies do not reside.

Jesus died for His enemies. And we all were such at one time. That is God’s love It also is God’s justice as the cross paid for the sins of the world.

Jesus forgives His enemies, all who come to Him in faith. (However, one defines the mechanics in their theology) That is God’s love as well. It also is God’s justice as since sin was paid for at the cross, how could God not forgive any who receive that forgiveness.

And in the end, Jesus sends His enemies to hell who don’t come in faith. That is not just justice but also God’s love as well – the attributes of God are not subordinate to each other depending on the action or what we think about the action – even those who choose to go against the red letters and deny the reality of hell.

Eric says:

Celebrity status is a predictor of less godliness. But undertaking Christian service in a difficult part of the world would usually be a predictor of more godliness, (all sinners of course).

Whenever I’ve seen Saeed’s face I’ve taken him as representing all those unfairly imprisoned like him. Whether his face or someone else’s is used, it will still represent all of them, including him.

Josh the Baptist says:

“I have yet to see anywhere in the Bible where God’s love for people is demonstrated somewhere besides the cross.”

I’m not sure I understand that statement. Certainly, the cross is the ultimate expression of God’s love, but was healing the leper or feeding the multitudes not also an example of God’s love?

Steve Wright says:

Josh – My point is that if you look up the word love in the concordance, and look at every passage where God speaks of His love to humanity, the reference is always the cross, the giving of His Son.

I tried to clarify that every good gift comes from God, but the fact is that not every person receives these good gifts in this fallen world. People die, are killed, they starve, they suffer. And God still loves these people. How do I know? By looking to the work and message of the cross

But if the context is “love your enemies” how did God love His enemies (including you and me). The cross. Which is for all people, Jew and Gentile alike. The earthly ministry of Jesus as to healing and feeding was to Israel (with a couple rare exceptions noted towards Gentiles). But His cross, and the results of the cross are to all people.

This is a political issue, and as I posted on facebook, I am dismayed at how when Christians advocate for sexual purity or for the lives of the unborn we are often chastised for being too political.

Michael’s point about Mexicans at our border is very different in my opinion than proactively sending airplanes for idolaters, many of whom are dangerous towards God’s people (and our children), and then providing all the needs of life necessary for them to continue their idolatry in this country – and to say it is somehow a Christian duty.

Now, if Obama wants to spend a few million of our tax dollars to send planes to relocate these people to Islamic nations – then I am all for it. But there is a reason these people traveled through multiple nations to try and get into the most generous nation (Germany) they could find. There is a reason beyond the basic needs of food and shelter which were available to them before Germany. There is a reason that over 75% of them are men, most of those being of military age.

But over the years I have heard Christians, churches and ministries criticized for demanding that a gospel presentation be included in their charitable efforts – that somehow Jesus took care of people without ever exposing them to the truth and our Christian duty is to make sure every lost idolater is comforted and provided for in their rebellion against God without ever making a call to repentance.

I do not have a CHRISTIAN duty to support the First Amendment freedom of religion. God surely does not believe in freedom of religion.

I have an AMERICAN duty to do so – but if I am speaking of an American duty, then that involves all sorts of other, American, Constitutional issues, like national security and the like – that should not be conflated with my Christianity. It is not hateful to love my fellow Americans and want their security…as France is finding out.

dustmyblues says:

The fear that is driving the anti-refugee movement is the very thing that argues against turning them away. The horror we feel, the terror of what might
happen to us or our children or grandchildren is the same terror and horror that has driven these people from their homes to seek a better life for their children. Except, in their case, the threat was an everyday part of their existence as they watched their country disintegrate before their very eyes at the hands of the butchers we are so afraid of. Watching as ISIS militants conducted mass executions. Terrified they or their children might be next.
I cannot in good conscience agree that the spirit of the One who said “Love your enemies,” as well as other teachings such as Matthew 24… “Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’.”I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat.”
The church has become a conduit for FOX News and MSNBC and CNN and not a place of refuge to strangers. It’s morally wrong to reject these people and I reject every argument which would argue the opposite.
James 2:15-17 “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

This is what he means by loving your enemies. Furthermore, who gets to define who is our enemy. Surely those who are trying to kill us are our enemies. But what of the women and especially the children. The refugees aren’t our enemies. James 2:16 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good2 is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
James 1:27 “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

JoelG says:

Amen dustmyblues. Its possible to welcome refugees and maintain our security. I don’t understand how people who know Jesus could turn away homeless refugees, Muslims or not.

Erunner says:

My mother and family came to America in 1948 as immigrants as a result of the Holocaust. My father’s grandparents arrived a generation before that from Russia due Lenin’s persecution of Christians. My wife’s family immigrated from Mexico.

In each of their cases they came legally. They got jobs. They learned English. They made their way according to the laws of America.

My mother’s family spent eight years in Shanghai from 1940 – 1948 and as I think about it being in China may have been the best thing for them even though they suffered much. After the war ended in 1945 Jews weren’t really welcome anywhere. It’s not like the world fell in love with them despite the hell they had survived.

Most all of us come from lines of refugees if we get right down to it. As I learned in the sixth grade (1966) we were a nation of immigrants.

Currently pretty much everyone on FB is posting slogans, opinions, or links to support their way of thinking as our nation wrestles with how do we respond to the refugee crisis we are currently seeing and which is only going to get worse.

We are a nation at war with ourselves right now. Morally, we are in free fall with no end in sight.

I don’t want to see the innocents suffer. I don’t want to see terrorists see their dreams realized here or anywhere else. I pray for my children and grandchildren. I pray we haven’t reached a point of no return.