"Anarchy is breaking loose across America."

We even have pictures today, a full page.It's beyond ridiculous considering we had already voted in the last election that marriage is...Goodness, have we come to that?This won't stand...this time.They will end up with an $80 token piece of paper that amounts to nothing.But it won't be long...Here is a quote I loved:"Since it is acceptable for the Mayor of San Francisco to ignore the laws he doesn't agree with, I assume the CHP will respect my right to drive 85 mph on Interstate 280." ~MM San Jose, CA

The Cross Does InterfereA. W. Tozer“Things has come to a pretty pass,” said a famous Englishman testily, ”when religion is permitted to interfere with our private lives.”To which we may reply that things have come to a worse pass when an intelligent man living in a Protestant country could make such a remark. Had this man never read the New Testament? Had he never heard of Stephen? or Paul? or Peter? Had he never thought about the millions who followed Christ cheerfully to violent death, sudden or lingering, because they did allow their religion to interfere with their private lives?But we must leave this man to his conscience and his Judge and look into our own hearts. Maybe he but expressed openly what some of us feel secretly. Just how radically has our religion interfered with the neat pattern of our own lives? Perhaps we had better answer that question first.I have long believed that a man who spurns the Christian faith outright is more respected before God and the heavenly powers than the man who pretends to religion but refuses to come under its total domination. The first is an overt enemy, the second a false friend. It is the latter who will be spewed out of the mouth of Christ; and the reason is not hard to understand.One picture of a Christian is a man carrying a cross. ”If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). The man with a cross no longer controls his destiny; he lost control when he picked up his cross. That cross immediately became to him an all-absorbing interest, an overwhelming interference. No matter what he may desire to do, there is but one thing he can do; that is, move on toward the place of crucifixion.The man who will not brook interference is under no compulsion to follow Christ. ”If anyone would,” said our Lord, and thus freed every man and placed the Christian life in the realm of voluntary choice. Yet no man can escape interference. Law, duty, hunger, accident, natural disasters, illness, death—all intrude into his plans, and in the long run there is nothing he can do about it. Long experience with the rude necessities of life has taught men that these interferences will be thrust upon them sooner or later, so they learn to make what terms they can with the inevitable. They learn how to stay within the narrow circular rabbit path where the least interference is to be found. The bolder ones may challenge the world, enlarge the circle somewhat and so increase the number of their problems, but no one invites trouble deliberately. Human nature is not built that way.Truth is a glorious but hard mistress. She never consults, bargains or compromises. She cries from the top of the high places: ”Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold” (Proverbs 8:10). After that, every man is on his own. He may accept or refuse, receive or set at naught as he pleases; and there will be no attempt at coercion, though the man’s whole destiny is at stake.Let a man become enamored of eternal wisdom and set his heart to win her and he takes on himself a full-time, all-engaging pursuit. Thereafter he will have room for little else. Thereafter his whole life will be filled with seekings and findings, self-repudiations, tough disciplines and daily dyings as he is being crucified unto the world and the world unto him.Were this an unfallen world the path of truth would be a smooth and easy one. Had the nature of man not suffered a huge moral dislocation there would be no discord between the way of God and the way of man. I assume that in heaven the angels live through a thousand serene millenniums without feeling the slightest discord between their desires and the will of God. But not so among men on earth. Here the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God; the flesh lusts against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary one to the other. In that contest there can be only one outcome. We must surrender and God must have His way. His glory and our eternal welfare require that it be so.Another reason that our religion must interfere with our private lives is that we live in the world, the Bible name for human society. The regenerated man has been inwardly separated from society as Israel was separated from Egypt at the crossing of the Red Sea. The Christian is a man of heaven temporarily living on earth. Though in spirit divided from the race of fallen men, he must yet in the flesh live among them. In many things he is like them, but in others he differs so radically from them that they cannot but see and resent it. From the days of Cain and Abel the man of earth has punished the man of heaven for being different. The long history of persecution and martyrdom confirms this.But we must not get the impression that the Christian life is one continuous conflict, one unbroken irritating struggle against the world, the flesh and the devil. A thousand times no. The heart that learns to die with Christ soon knows the blessed experience of rising with Him, and all the world’s persecutions cannot still the high note of holy joy that springs up in the soul that has become the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

"Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools...Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen....Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."In Christ,Ron

Jake wrote I view this -- homosexual marriage -- as a civil matter and not a religious one. These people are from many religious backgrounds and are entitled to equal rights under civil law.Hi Jakethis doesn't happen often so I thought I would just stand up and say that I have a lot of sympathy with your view. I don't think the church was ever intended to be the world's legislator, only its conscience. The distinction you make between crime and sin is very important.Our mutual friend Mr Fox was ever ready to rebuke judges and parsons, but he would never have been part of a moral majority. His role was to preach the truth of God and to refuse to be silenced, but he would not handle civil authority.I abhore the practise of homosexuality and abortion, and I fear the consequences that such behaviour brings upon our home countries, but I do believe that our role as church is to teach, and prick the conscience. As individuals we have a civil responsibility as did William Wilberforce,Sir Fowley Buxton, Elisabeth Fry and many others.The real answer to all this is revival. The nation's consciences need resetting, and only a sovereign move of God will do that. It is sobering to consider our own history. We had terrible immorality but the moves of God in the 17 & 18th Century had the effect of sensitising the conscience of the nation. They outlawed child prostitution, gin palaces and even the national lottery, but then the slide starts again and the only thing that can change the direction is the convicting power of the HOly Spirit. It happened again during the mid 19th century through the instrumentality of the Salvation Army and others.I love the words of William Booth "the fire will meet our every need". Legislation cannot halt this slide, only the Spirit of God.

BBC News..2/26/04UK among most secular nations.A survey of people's religious reliefs in 10 countries suggests the UK is among the most secular nations in the world. Ten thousand people were questioned in the poll by research company ICM for the BBC program What The World Thinks of God. More than a quarter of Britons thought the world would be more peaceful with nobody believing in God, but very few people in other countries agreed....""However, the US also stands out in contrast with the UK. The US is the richest nation polled and yet has a very high level of belief." At least the Britons choose not to delude themselves. As the article by Tozer in this thread talks about the effects of the cross on the lives who profess Christ. Americans do not know about the cross. Anarchy would not be manifested in a nation who carries the cross. That is why Abraham sought a heavenly city. He and all those who were faithful looked at their lives as being a pilgrim a soujourner in this world. There is peace in the midst of the storm. Look unto Christ.In ChristJeff

Hi Ron,Ditto everything you just said.This is an email I received from a friend the other day. Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2004 3:16 AM Subject: Fw: This is absolutely annointed-- February 12, 2004 U.S. Senator Zell Miller, D-GA Floor Statement on 'Deficit of Decency' in America Prepared Remarks for Delivery on the Senate Floor "The Old Testament prophet Amos was a sheep herder who lived back in the Judean hills, away from the larger cities of Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Compared to the intellectual urbanites like Isaiah and Jeremiah, he was just an unsophisticated country hick. "But Amos had a unique grasp of political and social issues and his poetic literary skill was among the best of all the prophets. That familiar quote of Martin Luther King, Jr. about 'Justice will rush down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream' are Amos's words. "Amos was the first to propose the concept of a universal God and not just some tribal deity. He also wrote that God demanded moral purity, not rituals and sacrifices. This blunt speaking moral conscience of his time warns in Chapter 8, verse 11 of The Book of Amos, as if he were speaking to us today: That 'the days will come, sayeth the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. 'And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east. They shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it.' "'A famine in the land'. Has anyone more accurately described the situation we face in America today? 'A famine of hearing the words of the Lord.' "But some will say, Amos was just an Old Testament prophet - a minor one at that - who lived 700 years before Christ. That is true, so how about one of the most influential historians of modern times? "Arnold Toynbee who wrote the acclaimed 12 volume A Study of History, once declared, 'Of the 22 civilizations that have appeared in history, 19 of them collapsed when they reached the moral state America is in today.' "Toynbee died in 1975, before seeing the worst that was yet to come. Yes, Arnold Toynbee saw the famine. The 'famine of hearing the words of the Lord.' Whether it is removing a display of the Ten Commandments from a Courthouse or the Nativity Scene from a city square. Whether it is eliminating prayer in schools or eliminating 'under God' in the Pledge of Allegiance. Whether it is making a mockery of the sacred institution of marriage between a man and woman or, yes, telecasting around the world made-in-the-USA filth masquerading as entertainment. "The Culture of Far Left America was displayed in a startling way during the Super Bowl's now infamous half-time show. A show brought to us courtesy of Value-Les Moonves and the pagan temple of Viacom-Babylon. "I asked the question yesterday, how many of you have ever run over a skunk with your car? I have many times and I can tell you, the stink stays around for a long time. You can take the car through a car wash and it's still there. So the scent of this event will long linger in the nostrils of America. "I'm not talking just about an exposed mammary gland with a pull-tab attached to it. Really no one should have been too surprised at that. Wouldn't one expect a bumping, humping, trashy routine entitled 'I'm going to get you naked' to end that way. "Does any responsible adult ever listen to the words of this rap-crap? I'd quote you some of it, but the Sergeant of Arms would throw me out of here, as well he should. And then there was that prancing, dancing, strutting, rutting guy evidently suffering from jock itch because he kept yelling and grabbing his crotch. But then, maybe there's a crotch grabbing culture I've unaware of. "But as bad as all this was, the thing that yanked my chain the hardest was seeing that ignoramus with his pointed head stuck up through a hole he had cut in the flag of the United States of America, screaming about having 'a bottle of scotch and watching lots of crotch.' Think about that. "This is the same flag that we pledge allegiance to. This is the flag that is draped over coffins of dead young uniformed warriors killed while protecting Kid Crock's bony butt. He should be tarred and feathered, and ridden out of this country on a rail. Talk about a good reality show, there's one for you. "The desire and will of this Congress to meaningfully do anything about any of these so-called social issues is non existent and embarrassingly disgraceful. The American people are waiting and growing impatient with us. They want something done. "I am pleased to be a co-sponsor of S.J. Res. 26 along with Senator Allard and others, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. And S.1558, the Liberties Restoration Act, which declares religious liberty rights in several ways, including the Pledge of Allegiance and the display of the Ten Commandments. And today I join Senator Shelby and others with the Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 that limits the jurisdiction of federal courts in certain ways. "In doing so, I stand shoulder to shoulder not only with my Senate co-sponsors and Chief Justice Roy Moore of Alabama but, more importantly, with our Founding Fathers in the conception of religious liberty and the terribly wrong direction our modern judiciary has taken us in. Everyone today seems to think that the U.S. Constitution expressly provides for separation of church and state. Ask any ten people if that's not so. And I'll bet you most of them will say 'Well, sure.' And some will point out, 'it's in the First Amendment.' "Wrong! Read it! It says, 'Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Where is the word 'separate'? Where are the words 'church' or 'state.' "They are not there. Never have been. Never intended to be. Read the Congressional Records during that four-month period in 1789 when the amendment was being framed in Congress. Clearly their intent was to prohibit a single denomination in exclusion of all others, whether it was Anglican or Catholic or some other. "I highly recommend a great book entitled Original Intent by David Barton. It really gets into how the actual members of Congress, who drafted the First Amendment, expected basic Biblical principles and values to be present throughout public life and society, not separate from it. "It was Alexander Hamilton who pointed out that 'judges should be bound down by strict rules and precedents, which serve to define and point out their duty.' Bound down! That is exactly what is needed to be done. There was not a single precedent cited when school prayer was struck down in 1962. "These judges who legislate instead of adjudicate, do it without being responsible to one single solitary voter for their actions. Among the signers of the Declaration of Independence was a brilliant young physician from Pennsylvania named Benjamin Rush. "When Rush was elected to that First Continental Congress, his close friend Benjamin Franklin told him 'We need you. . . we have a great task before us, assigned to us by Providence.' Today, 228 years later there is still a great task before us assigned to us by Providence. Our Founding Fathers did not shirk their duty and we can do no less. "By the way, Benjamin Rush was once asked a question that has long interested this Senator from Georgia in particular. Dr. Rush was asked, are you a democrat or an aristocrat? And the good doctor answered, 'I am neither'. 'I am a Christocrat. I believe He, alone, who created and redeemed man is qualified to govern him.' That reply of Benjamin Rush is just as true today in the year of our Lord 2004 as it was in the year of our Lord 1776. "So, if I am asked why - with all the pressing problems this nation faces today - why am I pushing these social issues and taking the Senate's valuable time? I will answer: Because, it is of the highest importance. Yes, there's a deficit to be concerned about in this country, a deficit of decency. "So, as the sand empties through my hourglass at warp speed - and with my time running out in this Senate and on this earth, I feel compelled to speak out. For I truly believe that at times like this, silence is not golden. It is yellow." http://miller.senate.govTo which I replied:"This is a nice little talk, by my favorite Democrat. But, I have a little bit different take on his message. I think if the message is anointed at all, that it's only with the sage advice of a wise old man. When I read the inspiring words of Bro. Zell I think about our Lord's 1st cousin John the Baptist. In Luke 7:28, Jesus said of John the Baptist:" For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist:" Quite a recommendation. But think about something for a moment. John preached what ? Repent and be Baptized for the Kingdom of God is at hand. He Baptized Jesus in the river, and was present when the Holy Spirit Baptized his 1st cousin. John had no similar experience with the Holy Ghost, but continued to preach repentance, and water baptism. About two years after baptizing Jesus he got himself in a little trouble when he decided to become the first Moral Majority. John told a heathen king that he shouldn't be committing adultery with his brothers wife. His lack of discernment got to the point, that he sent his disciples to Jesus, to ask him if He was the Messiah, or should they wait for another. In Acts 10:38 it says:" How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him." What pattern do you think we should follow as Christians, while we're going about doing the job He's left us here to do? The job he's left us to do, is establish the Kingdom of God on earth.Mark 16:14-2014 ¶ "Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.19 ¶ So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen." I love Zell Miller, and would charge Hell with armed with a squirt gun behind him. But, you can wag your finger in the heathens face, shake your head, cluck your tongue, and tell him what a bad boy he is. The only result might be, what it got John the Baptist. The only way unregenerated man will change, is from the inside out. Jesus said " Ye must be born again." Let's get on with doing it His way . As I stated earlier, I love Zell, but HE'S NOT RUNNING for re-election, and I've never been able to vote for him because of his political parties stand on abortion. I guess my question is,"Where was all that righteous indignation Zell,when it came to murdering babies?" Mac,aka.Clutch

Flags are symbolic of patriotism. Patriotism is pride for one's country. Pride is the sin for which Satan was cast down to earth. Those in power use flags as a means to shrink wrap one's mind and then a honorary shroud to memorialize the dead who have fallen under the feet of those who seek to control this world. Jesus was not a patriot. He is our King. "But I say to you, do not swear al all; neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair black or white. But let your Yes be Yes, and your No, No. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.." Matthew 5:34-37In ChristJeff