In the 1960's ...

My young friend had posted a picture on her FB page that said:

This is my response. Bill Brown rant...

The nation turned further away from the God of the Bible. People did more of their own thing, and less in service to others. The Panthers and groups like Islam led otherwise decent people down bad roads. Peaceful protests turned into violent and senseless riots as self-serving agitators infiltrated peacefully based demonstrations of protest against injustice. They wanted more radical change than people like Rosa Parks or Dr. King sought, and they led people into their demonic web. People turned from serving God and serving their brothers, to serving wealth and lust and corruption.

Oh yes and don't forget those nice people from Planned Parenthood, they happened. Don't forget those nice people from the liberal schools and the liberal wing of Government, with all of their social agenda and desire to help the poor by making them reliant upon Government rather than upon God. Thanks LBJ and all the rest.

A sexual revolution happened. Sex anywhere anytime wit anyone redefined love and destroyed families as well as the structure of family life. Oh yes, then too there was the drug revolution. The whole nation turned to a lust for drugs. Happiness now at any cost. Only, in the poorer communities, somehow the drugs were more caustic and did more physical, and mental, and social, and economic damage than they seemed to do in the richer communities. Quick, more planned parenthood - less of those kinds of babies please.

Then there was the social revolution every culture is better than the one that promotes healthy families and a solid work ethic, building family businesses and stability. Then there was, of course, the feminist movement. Did I mention that? Today, my niece, bless her, used the "F" word to complain that men she dated were not more chivalrous, not more like the men of my generation were supposed to have been when they took a woman out on a date. There is something wrong there.

Then there was the homosexual revolution. It wasn't just about coming out of a closet, It was about social acceptance. it was about normalizing sin, and making homosexuality the norm. It was about the proliferation of homosexual activity and making a statement that it isn't evil, even though it is. Now a rainbow is supposed to mean homosexuality is good rather than signify a promise that God has made.

Oh yes gangs. Gangs happened. Don't forget the gangs. Gangs thrived on the streets. Gangs thrived in the prisons. A whole new gang culture arose bringing with it all of its woes. I know that I have missed a couple of the other revolutions as well.

Now we have a tattoo, and a deface your body, revolution, a smoke dope - be happy, revolution, a protest as a way of life, revolution, etc.

Meanwhile, the corrupt at the top continued to do what the corrupt at the top had always tended to do, that is, look for ways to stay at the top and to advance the hoarding of their riches at the expense of others.

The schools largely applauded the liberal causes and the foolish notion that we would be better at making life good than repentance and faith in Christ would.

In a word, sin happened. This is not a black thing. It is a people thing. It is a sin thing. It is a rebellion against God thing.

I look at those figures, and it grieves me. There seemed to be a moment back then, when things were beginning to improve, but really, it is a fiction. All those things stepped in because that is what this world is about - all those things which are the things of sin and rebellion against God and peace and order, and life.

The world is sinful. We are sinful.

The best that we can do is repent, ultimately that means turn from sin and turn from self, turn to Christ, and follow Him.

We cannot pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and make this into a better world. We can turn to Christ though and start to do some good, while the others, the ones who don't turn to Christ continue in their rebellion, and one day the Lord returns and wipes the rebellious our with one word from His mouth, places their necks under His feet, and sets up His rule on this earth for the thousand years of peace before He finally casts Satan and all his followers into the Lake of Fire forever and creates a new heaven and a new earth where He will take all who are His to be with Him, away from all evil forever.

Then, once we have repented and come to Christ, we can be brave and venture to call others to join us in worshipping Him as Lord, as King, as our God.

Otherwise, we can just party, smoke-dope, serve self, despair, complain, protest, cause problems, and suffer the consequence's, and those numbers will continue to look more and more dismal, until they just are no more.

Thanks Hope, I guess seeing those numbers just made something click. I hate that it is the way it is, but I love that God has provided a way for us to un-align ourselves with this world and its ways, and to align ourselves with Him in the faith called Christianity. Jesus died to pay for our sins. He was killed on the cross to make that payment. We can trust His payment as sufficient and realize that just as God rose Him form the dead, He will raise us too, if we are found to be in Him. That, being in Him, is all about our willingness to repent and come to Him, to turn from sin and self and our attachment to this world and its ways, take Him to be our Lord, and confess Him as Lord - our own Lord and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

God bless, B.

On Hating Trump

Why does it seem like the only ones perpetrating hate, are those who hate Trump? Sure, there are people who are hateful, and there are people who are racist, but it does not follow that if and when Trump becomes President, that hateful people will take over society.

Rather, perpetuating hatred through calling people xenophobic, or racist, or homophobic, or Islamophobic, is just the perpetuation of hatred. It is itself, hateful. The person expressing hatred of those things, is being hateful to at least the same degree as the person-whom-they-are-being-intolerant-of, is.

Jesus calls us to love. He calls us to forgiveness. You may not believe in Jesus, but He is the Lord and Giver of Life, and unless you come to have faith in Him, you have no hope. Your own hatred, your own sin, secures your doom.

Jesus can set you free from your bondage to sin and death. His Gospel, the Good News about Him, includes that He is King, and that you can enter into His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God in Christ, through repentance. Jesus says, "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me. For I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

When you do that, come to Him in faith, He gives you forgiveness. He gives you life.

Open Letter to Donald J. Trump

An Open Letter to Donald J. Trump – 04 Nov. 2016

Dear Mr. Trump,
Sir,


Have you ever considered Eph. 5:1-6? The reason I ask is because a young man preached from that passage in our church last Sunday sermon. It made me think about what I would want to say to you if I ever had the chance to. Of course, I never would have such an opportunity, so if I don’t try to say it today, I may forget all about it tomorrow. Therefore, I presume to write to you with this open letter, to remind you or inform you of these things.
I place the passage here so that you can call it to mind:
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
(Eph. 5:1-6 NASB)
Let me begin by saying this. I am concerned about your Presidential Campaign. Because of your stand on abortion, and because of your support of a better judiciary, I would like to see you win the upcoming election, but there are some real problems. Such were my initial thoughts in wanting to write to you. However, after thinking about it, I must say, I am concerned about you, Donald Trump, the man, regardless of whether you win or lose the election. In fact, whatever I have to say here would be too late, in human terms, to be of any benefit to you as concerns the election. But then, people may do what they will, but the result always is that God is sovereign. If He wants to, He will place whomever He wants to place in office. So, please, sir, let this speak to you as a man who would live his life before God, and not just as a candidate.
You have said that you are a Christian, and not knowing whether that is true or not, I will take you at your word. I appeal to you as a brother in Christ. I hope that you will read this letter, as just that, an appeal from a brother in Christ, and consider the import of this passage.
Notice first that this section speaks of our deportment, our behavior, what we do, and how we do it. It speaks of how we are to live. Its context in the book of Ephesians is that of Paul telling his readers, the young church in Ephesus about all that God does and has done for those who are in Christ. The first chapters lay out the basis of Christian life. Then, from Chapter Four, he tells us how to behave in the church and in this world. Largely, that message has been lost on the church of our generation, but it does not have to be. It does not have to be lost on me. It does not have to be lost on you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. We, Christians, are God’s adoptive children, and we are to imitate our Father, God, not in His wrath and fury, but in His love. We are told to walk in love. Specifically, we are to love others as Christ loved us. That is, we are to imitate Him in the way that He gave Himself for us, sacrificially. He died as a sacrifice to God, so that we may live.
Jesus was humble in His giving Himself in love. He humbled Himself, left His place in Heaven, shed Himself of His rights as God in Heaven, and became a lowly man. More, He did that so that He could take on the public humiliation of hanging naked on the cross for one specific purpose; to take our sins upon Himself. On the cross He did that, and in doing that, He took God’s just punishment for our sins upon Himself as the full payment for our sins. Here, it says that we are, somehow, similarly, to give ourselves for the benefit of others. So that we, like Him, will become, as it were, a fragrant aroma to God, an aroma that pleases Him.
All of that is high and lofty. I have a long way to go in my walk with Christ. Most people do. That should not deter us though. Part of the purpose of the letter is to induce us to put off the old and put on the new. We are to grow in Christ and honor God with our lives. So to help us in that regard, God has provided some practical instructions that kind of put meat onto the bones of that first sentence.
But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; These kinds of things are those which Jesus died to save us from and to deliver us from. He will remind us of that in the next paragraph. For me, the temptation to immorality and impurity often has to do with sexual immorality or sexual impurity. Greed is almost a trap unto itself. The word used here for immorality, transliterated from Greek, is porneia. It is the word that our word pornography comes from. The word for impurity means, “not clean,” or, “not pure.” Jesus used it describe the condition of a rotting corpse when He described the pretense of the Pharisee’s morality. It is often used to speak of sexual impurity as well in the New Testament. The word here for greed means covetousness which in essence can be seen as greed, wanting more, wanting what is not rightfully yours. It is a form of idolatry.
I don’t know you, so I don’t know particulars of your own temptations along those lines. However, these kinds of sins are common among people. They are manifest throughout our American society, so it would not be difficult to imagine that these kinds of sins would beset you as well. For all I know those allegations that some have made in these regards, may or may not be true. Whether they are true or false, let God, in His Holy Spirit, convict you in whatever ways that you are actually tempted and beg Him to bring about the putting off of the old and the taking up of the new.
In Christ, we should be in the process of becoming examples of morality, purity and dignity. That is, we should reflect the attributes of Christ, Who Himself is moral, pure, and worthy of honor and respect. This is not for show, it is to honor and serve our new Master, Jesus Christ the Lord. We should be, or should be becoming this way in the inner man in the hidden person of our hearts. Then, as Jesus would say, we can let our lights shine in such a way that men may see our good works and glorify our Father Who is in Heaven. Our goal is to honor Christ. Our goal is to become more like Him. It is not to puff ourselves up or to become as you would put it, braggadocios.
Notice that these things, immorality, impurity, greed, must not even be named among Paul’s readers. He was telling them to live such exemplary lives that nobody could effectively accuse them of any of these things. In effect, the letter is also written to us. The letter is saying that all Christians have been redeemed by God and that since we have such a high and dignified place in Christ, we should act like what we have become, children of God, heirs of Heaven, joint heirs with Christ, God’s own people.
The problem that you have publicly having to do with this election is that, in the main, people do not see you that way. Many of the Christian qualities, outlined in the last half of Eph. 4 and the first half of Eph. 5, are still honored enough by the American People to be seen as qualities that they would want their leaders to have. They are considered Presidential or Statesmanlike qualities. The American People see you, as you often appear, crass, and bold, and loud, even somewhat loutish, that is uncouth or aggressive. Many Americans do not see you as humble, as moral, or as pure. While the bent of society is away from the qualities that Christians should and even must possess, many Americans still want to see these same qualities in the person whom they choose as their public servant leader. I know that it is a double standard, but there it is. Your appearance in public comes across more like that of a loutish TV show host than as a man with Presidential bearing.
You have the benefit of one ally in this. That is Mrs. Clinton. Many people who would support her evil platform are put off by her un-presidential manner as well. Even though her appearance on the surface shows better in that regard, it seems that people see through her façade. She appears to be a pretender with nefarious or at least self-serving goals. Surprisingly, as I understand them, my own daughter and my own sister, each of whom might want to vote for her because she is a woman and because they hold to several of the same goals as are found on her evil platform, dislike her enough to not want to do so. They would have been happier to see you run against Sanders whom they did seem to support. That is not enough to balance the scales in the election though. As much as they dislike Clinton, they dislike you even more. Unfortunately for your cause, they are not alone.
Many people like you and also like your platform. Many of them will vote for you. There are also many who like at least enough things about your platform to want to support you and to want to vote for you, but who find that they cannot do so with a clear conscience. That is a problem. The idea is that they see you as an evil man. They do not see you as Presidential material. They don’t have enough evidence to see you as other than rude, or loud, or prideful, or arrogant. The press in general supports the platform of evil that Clinton supports and it speaks loudly enough against you so that between your public appearances in which you do not show much humility, and what the press says about you, many people do not want to, and are unwilling to vote for you. In terms of your election, I fear that unless those people begin to see you as other than you have appeared thus far, you election may be lost.
The words, that I would want to encourage you in Christ with, are really late in terms of your election, but they are not too late for you, Donald Trump, the man. So as a Christian writing to one who says that he too is a Christian, I seek to encourage you in Christ, to grow in Him and to live as He would have you to live – in accord to the dictates of this passage and according to the dictates of the last half of Eph. 4, and indeed according to the dictates of the rest of the New Testament.
Let God do His work in you. Seek His grace to change you more into the image of His Glorious Son Jesus Christ. Listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Read and study the Scriptures. Involve yourself in a local, Bible preaching, Bible believing, church, and develop yourself in a program of Christian Discipleship. You may already do these things, but as I don’t know you and as they are things which are often dismissed by many Americans in general, I remind you that these are essential to Christian growth and Christian stability.
It says that these things, immorality, impurity, and greed, must not even be named among us. Well, that goes beyond just stating that we should not practice them. We should have no association with them at all. So much so, that nobody should even be able to suggest that they are part of our lives. We should not practice them. We should not think about them. We should not even call them to mind. Yet, they, immorality, impurity, and greed, make up a big part of the fabric of our society. They even infiltrate our churches. Paul says they must not… Must not, is a very strong statement. It is emphatic.
In Christ, wherever these evils exist in us, we must repent of them and appeal to God for grace and strength to leave them behind and to become more like Him in what we do and how we live. I know I have struggled with these issues. I don’t want to have struggles with them any longer. So, I work daily to turn from them, to follow Christ, to have Him work on me to change me to be more like Him. Earlier in the letter, 4:22ff. Paul said that we are to lay aside the old self, be renewed in our minds, and put on the new self that which has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. In many ways this is a battle for our minds. We must strive to set our minds on the things of Christ and not on the things of this world.
Brother in Christ, the way of the world is to pretend. It sees the nobility in the traits of Christ, but the best it can do is pretend. That is the way of human morality and false religion. What Paul is speaking of here, indeed, what God is speaking of, through His using Paul to write His words, is not pretend. It is not falsehood. It is found in the  new life that only exists in Christ. This letter to the Ephesian Church is a letter to all Christians. It tells of the great wonder of God making us His own children in Christ. It tells of the greatness of Christ and glories of our inheritance in Him. Then in these last chapters, 4-6, it tells us how to walk in a manner worthy of our new condition, worthy of the greatness of being adopted in Christ and of being, now, His children.
It would be silly to make this just a letter telling you how to improve your chances in an election. Consider something even greater than that. Consider the love of God in Jesus Christ which makes eternal salvation, forgiveness of sins, and the imputation of Christ’s own righteousness available to us. Consider the beauty of the Christ who died in your place and look to Him. Learn from Him. Become more like Him. That is a far better goal than that of becoming a leader of any sort, of the affairs of this world. Our calling as the lowest of any who come to Christ is incomprehensibly higher than that of being CEO, or President, or King. Nothing that this world has to offer even comes close to the calling that even the lowest one who comes to Him in repentant faith has. In Christ Jesus, the calling is to become His, to become one of His own, to belong to God as His own adoptive child. Please, my new friend, bear with me a bit longer.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are not qualities that many people possess. Yet they are exactly the qualities that God in His Holy Spirit gives to those who live in fellowship with Him through Jesus Christ. Some religious people try to fake their way. They pretend. They are hypocrites. You though, have said that you are a Christian. If that is true, then you have come to Him, and are learning from Him. So, let’s look a little more at His Word in this passage.
He finishes out the sentence with these words, “and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. Actually, this is the point at which I was reminded of you. I haven’t heard whatever it was that you said, but I have heard about it, and I have heard you mention it in one of the debates as Locker Room talk. Talk for which you offered contrition. This part of the sentence tells us plainly that we must not participate in, filthiness, silly talk, coarse jesting, etc. they are not fitting for a Christian. The American People seemed horrified enough by whatever you said. They were not thinking of you particularly as a Christian. They were just thinking of what they call common decency or of the dignity of the Office of the Presidency. Yet, this passage is talking about something much higher than that. It speaks of the dignity of a much higher office, if it can be called an office, that is, it is speaking about such things as not being fit for the children of God. Please sir, divest yourself of any and all filthiness, silly talk, coarse jesting. Divest yourself of all Locker Room talk. If it isn’t fitting for a President, it certainly is not fitting for any member of God’s Royal Household at any time, in any place, whatsoever.
Instead, it says, we should show ourselves to be thankful. Thankfulness is humble. It shows humility. Thankfulness is not self-serving, but is respondent to the graciousness of another. In our case, it is our response to the grace of God for His bringing us to Himself in Christ Jesus our Lord. My brother, be humble and thankful in Christ. Not for show, but in truth for the great things that God has done for you. I look forward to the possibility of writing to you again, not as Mr. Trump, but as President Trump. More than that though, I would hope that if I did write again, I could, with confidence, address you as, My Dear Brother in Christ.
Here is a link to my favorite big-name Pastor, John MacArthur’s treatment of this passage. I am sure that if you listen to it attentively it will bless you more than I can with this letter. http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/1932/walking-in-love-part-2
In all matters, may God richly bless you in your walk in Christ.
Sincerely,
Bill Brown

Jesus' Calls People to Himself

God's Word is true. If we are His, God's Holy Spirit Who wrote it, comes to our aid in understanding it. If you are His, He will guide you in the Study of His Word.
If you are not His, let Him convict you concerning your sin and concerning judgment and concerning righteousness. Then, once you have submitted to the Lord Jesus Christ, turned from sin and self, and taken up your cross to follow Him, you can begin studying His Word and learn from Him.

Jesus says this, "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." You should believe what I tell you here, because it is not me telling you, but the Lord Himself. That is the bottom line really. Are these the words of Christ? They are!

The angel Gabriel, sent from God, told Zacherias about the pending birth of John, and in effect, Zacherias asked, "Why should I believe you?." It is better to be like the Bereans. They took the message given them by Paul, and studied the Scripture. In both cases, God's messenger had brought God's Word. In the later case though, the Holy Spirit commented positively about the Bereans, that they were more-noble because they turned to the Scripture for verification. Zacherias on the other hand struggled for months without being able to speak because he did not believe the Word of God given by a messenger of God. Study the Scripture and see that the call of Christ is valid!

See also, Rom. 1:17, 3:23,24, 27, 4:2,5,16, 5:1,15-17, 10:9,10

Dirt. Everything of this Earth is Just Dirt.

The things of this world are all just dirt - refined dirt maybe, but dirt just the same. It is dirt which is sometimes disguised as a pretty package. The package is always deceptive and the dirt is always just dirt.
The things of God though, the things of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness and self-control, they are real. They endure forever. They are not just dirt, but they flow forth from and are part of the life that God has provided in Jesus Christ.