Feb

2

Many of you in the church have abandoned the teachings of Christ in favor of politics. I might remind you that Christ did not hang out with the Temple choir, not was he tight with the religous or political leadership in his day. Actually, just the opposite. I know it and so do you. 

If you read the Gospels he was out in the field helping his fellow man. He stopped a prostitute from being stoned to death. He hung out with folks that most of the elite during that period thought of as riff-raff. He had some pretty strong things to say about people postering in the name of religion.

When he was supposedly trapped by the religous leaders of the day he took a Roman coin and said, “Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s”. 

As an individual citizen of the USA you have a right like everyone else to have a political perspective. As a child of God you need to start listening to your savior and trying to walk his walk. Your collective walk has gone very far astray. WWJD? I guarantee he would not be acting the way the church of today is acting. You cannot offer any scriptural evidence to support your behavior. It is sad to see that you have become little more than another political lobby group. Very sad indeed.

Nov

27

“‘Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things that are God’s’” 
   -Matthew 22:21

Excuse Me Fundamentalists, But the separation Of church and state was defined by God himself in the New Testament. Our forefathers seemed wise enough to have figured this out as well. Maybe because their interpertation of scripture was more accurate?

We are far from finished. To stop with just this quote attributed in the New Testment to Christ himself would be to take it out of context. You can read the story for yourself, I will paraphrase some of it for you here, but provide enough scripture so you know I am not taking the message out of context.

The religious leadership of the day was trying to trap Christ so they could not only discredit him, but actually have him arrested so he they could neatly “dispose of him” as the message he was preaching was not exactly a shining beacon holding up the Temple. The religous leadership of the day sent a few “plants” (sounding familiar to you?) to ask him tough some questions like…

“‘Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?’”
   Matthew 22:16-17 NASB

Now, let’s go back and think about his answer for a moment. Not only did he advocate a clear separation between “God” and “local/global politics, but he also admonished these people for being a bunch of disengenuous hypocrites.

For me, here is the real kicker. We Christians believe that Jesus Christ is God almightly in the form of a man. Most clergy in the various denominations also take it as fact that verse 22:21 in Matthew represents the actual words of God in the flesh.

In response to a question regarding TAXATION (a favorite subject of the Repulican party in America today) what exactly was God’s reply?

“‘are you testing Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the coin {used} for the poll-tax.’

And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them,

‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’

They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’ 
 
And hearing {this,} they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.”

Amazed? Amazed as in, “wow I just Tiger Woods birdie the 7th”, or amazed as in “How can this dude be one of us? He is selling us out to the Roman government.”

Now this goes specifically to my fellow Christians out there. The God we believe in just told us in pretty much no uncertain terms to not confuse His kingdom with the one here on earth that is ruled by our fellow citizens (aka the power elite). How exactly are you resolving this scriptural reference in respect to some of the things Christian leadership and the Christian media is writing about and getting politically involved in?

…Listen…

When you are trying to tie your particular viewpoints and beliefs on political and social issues of the day please do not be so arrogant to do so on behalf of the name of God.

Also, do not be so arrogant as to do so in the name of your religous Christian beliefs. I am a Christian, and I do not share many of the beliefs that you expound upon citing God’s name. Trust me when I tell you I am not the only one. We may very well represent the minority of Christians, but there are far more of us than you might think!

I just showed you here scriptual evidence that God DOES not share your beliefs. In fact, God likely thinks you are being a hyprocrite for invoking his name into matters that are NOT of his kingdom.

One final thought on the subject. If we go back to the story in Matthews 22, and if we were to examine the occupying Roman government that had conquered and was ruling the area where this story took place we would find that the Romans were not exactly a “swell” bunch of folks. So, even in the face of a fairly brutual regime, look again at how God answered the question regarding taxation.

Look, you have every right to your opinions. But, you would be wise and do God a great justice by listening to him on this matter as he has spoken, and spoken pretty clearly on this particular matter.

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