I am reading all the political junk in the news about General Pace. Some are die-hard fans that think he should be congratulated and it was very commendable while others think he is a pig.

One of Hillary Clintons (gay) fundraisers says that he is hoping that she will expressly reject the word ‘immorality’ where it applies to gay people.

So what is up with folks wanting special rules? If it should be ok for two men to have sex, and for the sake of this post, in the military, then it should be ok for them to have multiple bed partners also. When will it be ok for General to bed down with the Corporal and his wife at the same time? Would it be fair to say that bestiality will become the norm in the near future also at the cost of the taxpayers? And of course a stop sign doesn’t really mean stop it means only if you are so inclined.

Rules are rules only when they make us happy. When we don’t like them we are like a toddler stamping our foot in rebellion. NO! Unfortunately, this isn’t only about Gods rules. Folks in general do not like rules and the ignorant seem to think that life can go on without them.

Rules are good and for a reason. We instill rules to our children and puppies… for a reason. Momma taught us not to try and stick the fork up our nose. Why? Because it could really hurt! And you would look real silly as an adult trying to do adult dinners and trying to teach your fellow eaters how much fun it is to try and jam a fork up your nose.

Americans want to claim their superiority with their level of education, military positioning or the so-called American wealth but they really are a very ignorant breed of people. The gays have always been around in one way or another. God talks about them in the old and New Testament. (Unless you have manipulated the bible to your liking, my bible does not show God favoring them in any way. Sorry to pop your bubble.) We may not be able to stop the secret sin in our military camps, government and lifestyles but do we have to openly endorse and promote it?

If we reject the word immorality for ‘gays’ then we might as well reject it for child molesters, rapists, murderers, and anything else that we feel might exclude a group and hurt their feelings. If Hillary rejects the word immorality then maybe what her husband did a few years ago wasn’t really all that bad, or at least not immoral, and she was just making a fuss to get political attention for her future.

Immorality is just that. Immoral. A stop sign is to tell us to STOP! Sin is SIN! Everyone wants to play God, be their own god and set up their own rules to make their life justifiable. And why do we use the soft side of the wording… immoral. In a nutshell it is wicked, depraved, corrupt, evil and degenerate. Call sin what sin is. SIN!

And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that does evil hates the light, neither comes to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that does truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. ~ John 3:19-21

“Stuart Rosenberg, a prolific director of series television and theatrical films who partnered with Paul Newman on the widely popular prison drama "Cool Hand Luke" and several other movies, has died at 79.”

Of course my first ‘righteous’ thought was if as a Jew he knew anything about the real Jew that came to die for him that he might have life again?

The man won awards for numerous things. He was nominated for a Directors' Guild Award, four Academy Awards and collected more than 300 TV directing credits. I am sure he had much money and accolades.

He died of a heart attack. Fairly sudden I would suspect. My step-father had a heart attack and was dead in hours. That doesn’t leave much time to come to grips with your immortality. It doesn’t leave much time to wonder where you are about to go for eternity. It doesn’t leave much room to ponder your religion and see if it was good enough.

My prayer is that someone shared the life-giving gospel to him and showed him something better than the Old Laws of the death. I pray that someone will go to his family and share that Christ is alive and well living in his Bride here on this earth. I pray that they will see that love of Christ through one of us before it is too late for them.

I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. ~ Deut 30:19

“Remember FEAR is actually...FALSE~ EVIDENCE~ APPEARING~ REAL.” This is what I just read in a Christian newsletter. Some folks are acronym happy! It seems if one could make an acronym out of whatever the situation is then it puts the problem in a cute, little, neat box where things cannot possibly unravel or get out of control. Truly, acronyms are a form of needing to be in control of even the tiniest of problems.

Some of the popular Christian acronyms are BIG: Bold in God!, CEO: Christians Encouraging Others, EGO: Edging God Out, JAGUAR: Jesus Always Guides Us and Redeems, HOPE: He Offers Peace Everyday, JOY: Jesus Overshadows You, PRAY: Praise. Repent. Ask. Yield., WASTE: Worry. Anger. Self-Pity. Tattling. Envy., LICE: Life in Christ Eternal, and the ever-popular WWJD (which is another post in itself). The list could go on and on.

This post really is not about acronyms. I just couldn’t resist typing all that silliness. Moving on to my point.

Is fear really ‘false evidence appearing real’? The dictionary had multiple definitions but the two that stuck out were ‘a feeling of agitation and anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger’ and an ‘extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power’. From this I read that ‘fear’ is a real thing not the imagination that can be directed towards situations in life or of God.

I have a fear of standing on the freeway. My fear is real. I probably could get hurt very badly. That very real fear is what keeps me from playing on the freeways!! If I hear of the pit-bull living two doors away has attacked a little child then I would probably have a real fear of seeing that dog. If my child’s daycare told me about another child that contracted meningitis, I would have a healthy and honest fear about taking my child back to daycare or a general fear wondering if my child also caught something and would be in great danger.

Fear is a healthy emotion I believe that God instilled in us as prevention. In the bible, we are told to fear God. The word is used 400 times in the Bible to be exact. Peter was speaking of being obedient to civil authority when he said, ‘Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.’(1Peter 2:17) The Greek definition for fear includes to fear, be afraid, to be struck with fear, to be seized with alarm, of those struck with amazement, be afraid of one, to fear (i.e. hesitate) to do something (for fear of harm), to reverence, venerate, to treat with deference or reverential obedience, etc.

To have a reverential fear towards God is biblical. Where we tend to have a leaning with this sort of teaching about fear being ‘false evidence appearing real’ is when one wants to make God their friend. If fear towards God were false evidence only appearing to be real then it would also negate the realness and seriousness of God almighty being final judge. It sugar coats the gospel and waters down the concept of repentance for salvation. It teaches us that we can allow God to become our savior instead of our Savior allowing us into his might presence through his shed blood on the cross. Ultimately, statements like this about fear are the need to put the power in our hands and rip it away from Gods.

Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. ~ Revelations 14:7

I had a group of folks over that lead the music ministry for a church. I noticed that although I was playing Christian music they neither hummed, whistled, snapped fingers, tapped feet or even acknowledged their was any music playing. I know a dog trainer that has two dogs that do not mind well and one is obese. I know mechanics that have broken down cars.

Does this attitude spill over into our personal Christianity also? Just because I am called by the name Christian, is it ok for me to act like the rest of the worldly, secular folks? Will anyone know? Will anyone care?

I don’t think most other humans really care. They already have enough ‘dirt’ on the so-called Christians so you acting in ways that do not glorify God or exemplify Christ are what they have been used to.

To me to the biggest ingredient is that God will know. God does know. God cares. God sees. God knows an ‘act’ from a true giving, caring and loving heart that reaches beyond themselves to others that they would not normally reach out to because it may overstep their comfort zone. God knows.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. ~John 10:27

Why are we so intent on ‘binding’ Satan? It is not uncommon in the Charismatic and Pentecostal circles to hear quite frequently someone blurting out how they are ‘binding Satan in Jesus’ name.’ “A person will pray that Satan will be bound from blinding a person to whom they are presenting the gospel, in the belief that this will improve the likelihood of that person trusting Christ as his savior. On other occasions, people attempt to bind Satan and his demons from certain geographical locations, such as a new house the person will be moving into, a new church building, or a particular location in a city or neighborhood. Doing this, it is believed, could affect the power and moving of God in the lives of believers as well as unbelievers.”

There is coming a day when the strong man will be bound, along with his demonic host. Revelation 20:1-3 says that Satan will be bound for 1,000 years shortly after Christ's Second Coming. Following the Millennium, Satan will be deposited into the lake of fire for all eternity. The antidote for the believer is not to bind him (if Satan and the demons are being bound, who keeps letting them loose anyway?), but as 1 Peter 5:8 instructs, to "resist him, firm in your faith." Jesus himself will bind the strong man, Satan, on behalf of his Bride at a future time. He does not use believers to act in his behalf in this area. God will not be using believers to round up Satan and put him out of commission by binding. Instead, the means God will use is stated clearly in Revelation 20:1, where it says that "an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand," will do the honors. Therefore, the idea that believers have removed Satan and his demon armies from spheres of influence because they have prayed for Satan's binding is not found in the Bible and is, thereby, unbiblical.
(Parts taken from J. Beard, www.rapidnet.com)