It's coming. Just listen to Judith Shulevitz's comments regarding the state and that the state's position supersedes that of Seventh-day Adventist's and even Jews, which remarkably she happens to be one! There will be a Sunday law one day.
Showing posts with label sabbath. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sabbath. Show all posts
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Sunday, May 23, 2010
They Have Made Void Thy Law - Parts I & II
Professor Veith from the "Rekindling the Reformation" series. Great stuff as always.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The Erosion of Religious Freedom
I am apolitical. Unabashedly so in fact. Have been for quite a number of years now. The circus that was the election for the California Governor's seat in 2003 sealed the deal for me. And no, I didn’t vote for Arnold. I voted for one of the other 100+ candidates vying for my attention. To some it might seem odd then that I feel compelled to speak on political things from time to time, but I do, however very rarely. I haven’t written a “letter to the editor” in years. Yet now is one of those times, but not for the reasons you may think.
I remember that I used to argue with my mother (Heavenly Father, rest her soul) while growing up as a young adult when she used to say to me, “If you don’t vote you have no right to complain” to which I would always retort, “Mom there’s nothing in the First Amendment that says if you don’t vote you have no right to speak out against the government.” To me this is still true today. Now interestingly, some may equate the voting process as a form of speaking pro or con and our “civic duty”. They indeed have a legitimate point. However I don’t see the right to speak freely limited to just the voting booth. With that said, I have purposely limited myself to rarely, if ever, speaking out about our government and what the government chooses to do. I mean seriously if anyone thinks they are going to tell a 3.6 trillion dollar-a-year gorilla where to sit, where to stand and what to do then I have news for you — you are seriously kidding yourself.
No, the reason I’m bringing politics into the mix here is to make a simple illustration about religious liberty and how I believe it will eventually be eroded away. The Senate has set itself to finalize a vote to pass President Obama’s massive heath care reform bill on Christmas eve. That bill, whether you agree with it or not or even whether you believe this or not, includes language that a person must buy health coverage and if they don’t they will be taxed. Seriously. The last time such a massive power grab was instigated against the American people by Congress at Christmas time we got the Federal Reserve Act and we all know where the cliff is that that Act has eventually led this nation to.
Now frankly to tell anyone that they have to buy health coverage or else be taxed is unconscionable and a violation of basic human rights. Basically the equivalent to telling a vegetarian that they must buy and eat Filet Mignon and if they don’t they will be taxed. Vegetarian? So what. Buy and eat....or else! It’s the equivalent of telling someone that doesn’t eat swine (like me!) that they have to buy hog maws and pickled pigs feet and eat. Swine free? So what. Buy and eat....or else!
As we know this bill will be passed and signed by the President. Guaranteed. It will then make the obligatory rounds through the press and the courts, where it is my prediction that the Supreme Court will eventually give us some wonderfully flowery language how this bill is good for the nation as a whole, outweighs individual liberty and thus the 3.6 trillion dollar-a-year gorilla must get it’s way. Now, of course I could be all wrong, that none of this will in fact happen, but I don't think so.
This is where I believe the aspect of religious liberty can and will eventually be tested. The questions regarding of freedom of conscious — brought to bear by this bill and it’s attendant wrangling will thus be settled once and for all. Can the questions regarding our religious liberty to worship on the day we choose be far behind? Personally, I don’t think so. Once that 3.6 trillion dollar-a-year gorilla is in the room anything is liable to happen.
When Caesar knocks at the door and says, “Pay up” what shall we as Christians do? When the government comes and demands our participation in this future boondoggle what shall we do? We shall say, “Yes sir, how much you want?” It is clear from scripture (and you may disagree) that if Caesar thinks something is his, whatever that something is, we are to give it to him because we know in reality that whatever Caesar has doesn’t actually belong to Caesar, it belongs to our Heavenly Father. When Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and render unto God the things that are God’s” Jesus made the situation as plain as day. He shocked everyone in the process. He made it plain that nothing belongs to Caesar and everything belongs to God. Yet if Caesar wants something, give it to him.
What then are we to do when Caesar tells us what day we can take off to worship or even what day in fact we can worship? What then? Well that’s easy. We obey God. Our Heavenly Father has given us something, His Sabbath day, that no man has a right or any authority to take or to claim for it belongs to Him. The Sabbath is God’s day. He made it, He owns it. It was made for man to enjoy. If Caesar wants to violate our freedom of conscious to tell us want to buy then that is certainly something Caesar can and will do. However, if Caesar wants to violate our freedom of religious conscious and tell us what day we can or can’t worship our Heavenly Father then you are free to tell Caesar sorry, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” - Psalms 118:24
I remember that I used to argue with my mother (Heavenly Father, rest her soul) while growing up as a young adult when she used to say to me, “If you don’t vote you have no right to complain” to which I would always retort, “Mom there’s nothing in the First Amendment that says if you don’t vote you have no right to speak out against the government.” To me this is still true today. Now interestingly, some may equate the voting process as a form of speaking pro or con and our “civic duty”. They indeed have a legitimate point. However I don’t see the right to speak freely limited to just the voting booth. With that said, I have purposely limited myself to rarely, if ever, speaking out about our government and what the government chooses to do. I mean seriously if anyone thinks they are going to tell a 3.6 trillion dollar-a-year gorilla where to sit, where to stand and what to do then I have news for you — you are seriously kidding yourself.
No, the reason I’m bringing politics into the mix here is to make a simple illustration about religious liberty and how I believe it will eventually be eroded away. The Senate has set itself to finalize a vote to pass President Obama’s massive heath care reform bill on Christmas eve. That bill, whether you agree with it or not or even whether you believe this or not, includes language that a person must buy health coverage and if they don’t they will be taxed. Seriously. The last time such a massive power grab was instigated against the American people by Congress at Christmas time we got the Federal Reserve Act and we all know where the cliff is that that Act has eventually led this nation to.
Now frankly to tell anyone that they have to buy health coverage or else be taxed is unconscionable and a violation of basic human rights. Basically the equivalent to telling a vegetarian that they must buy and eat Filet Mignon and if they don’t they will be taxed. Vegetarian? So what. Buy and eat....or else! It’s the equivalent of telling someone that doesn’t eat swine (like me!) that they have to buy hog maws and pickled pigs feet and eat. Swine free? So what. Buy and eat....or else!
As we know this bill will be passed and signed by the President. Guaranteed. It will then make the obligatory rounds through the press and the courts, where it is my prediction that the Supreme Court will eventually give us some wonderfully flowery language how this bill is good for the nation as a whole, outweighs individual liberty and thus the 3.6 trillion dollar-a-year gorilla must get it’s way. Now, of course I could be all wrong, that none of this will in fact happen, but I don't think so.
This is where I believe the aspect of religious liberty can and will eventually be tested. The questions regarding of freedom of conscious — brought to bear by this bill and it’s attendant wrangling will thus be settled once and for all. Can the questions regarding our religious liberty to worship on the day we choose be far behind? Personally, I don’t think so. Once that 3.6 trillion dollar-a-year gorilla is in the room anything is liable to happen.
When Caesar knocks at the door and says, “Pay up” what shall we as Christians do? When the government comes and demands our participation in this future boondoggle what shall we do? We shall say, “Yes sir, how much you want?” It is clear from scripture (and you may disagree) that if Caesar thinks something is his, whatever that something is, we are to give it to him because we know in reality that whatever Caesar has doesn’t actually belong to Caesar, it belongs to our Heavenly Father. When Jesus said, “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and render unto God the things that are God’s” Jesus made the situation as plain as day. He shocked everyone in the process. He made it plain that nothing belongs to Caesar and everything belongs to God. Yet if Caesar wants something, give it to him.
What then are we to do when Caesar tells us what day we can take off to worship or even what day in fact we can worship? What then? Well that’s easy. We obey God. Our Heavenly Father has given us something, His Sabbath day, that no man has a right or any authority to take or to claim for it belongs to Him. The Sabbath is God’s day. He made it, He owns it. It was made for man to enjoy. If Caesar wants to violate our freedom of conscious to tell us want to buy then that is certainly something Caesar can and will do. However, if Caesar wants to violate our freedom of religious conscious and tell us what day we can or can’t worship our Heavenly Father then you are free to tell Caesar sorry, “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” - Psalms 118:24
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Ecological Dimension of Sunday?!
The following was taken from a post made at Advent Talk an online Adventist discussion forum. I thought it was relevant simply because it illustrates very well what the lack of any adherence to the moral laws of God will eventually bring. Already we can see great strides being taken to legislate Sunday observance in contrast to Sabbath solemnity.
This actually quite relevant to the topic of dispensationalism because the ship of the dispensational mindset is generally without course nor rudder in the sea of sound doctrine and scripture. All the while, as dispensationalist's consistently and blindly gaze at the wrong horizon of the secular, modernistic State of Israel (built on the image of neo-pagan Roman civil law), the ecumenical world movement is quickly creeping up behind them. The minions don't see Rome because they aren't looking at Rome and their pastors, who very much teach solid Jesuit eschatology, happily lead their flock astray.
It will only be a matter of time before some catastrophic event such as an economic meltdown, a massive terrorist attack or environmental disaster will cause the supposed necessity of a legislated worldwide day of rest.
Ecological Dimension of Sunday?!
In a homily in Vienna, Austria, recently, Pope Benedict XVI highlighted the threat that hovers upon the environment and Creation in general, stressing the necessity to pay greater attention to, what he called, “the ecological dimension of Sunday”, the day when the Church thanks God for the Creation. He said: “At a time when creation seems to be endangered in so many ways through human activity, we should consciously advert to this dimension of Sunday too”.
This “ecological dimension” of Sunday is a new language by which the Pope tries to show the Vatican’s leadership in a global campaign to “save the planet” (see http://zenit.org/article-20450?l=english). Wouldn’t that be what some are calling “ECOmenism”?
But in a theological perspective, we see in the papal discourse a clear distortion of the real meaning of the Sabbath institution: he points to Sunday as a day to celebrate creation, which doesn’t match the biblical teaching, for that role is assigned to the seventh-day Sabbath as being the “memorial of creation”.
According to the Genesis creation record, on the first day God was acting in His work, as Creator, and only on the seventh-day He rested, blessed and sanctified the day (Gen. 2:2, 3). So, this twisting of meanings is certainly a subtle change of the Bible’s teaching and symbolism on the subject of what constitutes the institution to remember the Creator and His creation.
In the USA, on the other hand, campaigns stressing greater respect for Sunday and the 10 Commandments are under way. A “10 Commandments Commission” was formed to promote a “10 Commandments Day” (which is being set for the 1st Sunday of May) under the command of influential Evangelical leaders, such as James Dobson, Benny Hynn, Charles Colson, Pat Robertson, Don Wildmon and a good number of others (see: http://www.ldausa.org/index.cfm and http://www.tencommandmentsday.com/).
The promoters of these significant campaigns understand that the moral and spiritual decline of the great North-American nation (and all over the world) is due to the failure of society to consider seriously these divine principles, which seems a good thing, but that implies serious dangers for religious freedom. Such initiatives could lead to having religio-political systems influencing the government to dictate norms according to the expectations and interpretations of these leaders. History teaches us a sober lesson that when there is a mix of religion and politics, minorities are always hurt. . .
In an interview on May 18, 2005 to the program “Fresh Air”, of the NPR network (National Public Radio), that covers practically the entire country, Dr. James D. Kennedy, influential minister and evangelist who had an intense radio and TV activity before passing away in September, 2007, said openly that the principle of separation of Church and State in the USA is an error that goes against the ideals of the Christian founders of the nation, and should be simply discarded. This is a very worrisome notion. His interview can be heard through the following link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4656600).
We understand through the study of Bible prophetic statements that the final events on this planet will have much to do with the Sabbath/Sunday question. It will be the definition of who will bear the seal of God, and who will receive the “mark of the beast”. And that the obligatory character of total suspension of activities on Sundays is not a new idea we can see just recalling the “rehearsal” of that during a very serious crisis in recent decades--the oil embargo of the 70’s. What day in the week was affected by those politico-economical developments of the time? The older ones remember the gas stations closing on Sundays in many countries throughout the world.
This actually quite relevant to the topic of dispensationalism because the ship of the dispensational mindset is generally without course nor rudder in the sea of sound doctrine and scripture. All the while, as dispensationalist's consistently and blindly gaze at the wrong horizon of the secular, modernistic State of Israel (built on the image of neo-pagan Roman civil law), the ecumenical world movement is quickly creeping up behind them. The minions don't see Rome because they aren't looking at Rome and their pastors, who very much teach solid Jesuit eschatology, happily lead their flock astray.
It will only be a matter of time before some catastrophic event such as an economic meltdown, a massive terrorist attack or environmental disaster will cause the supposed necessity of a legislated worldwide day of rest.
Ecological Dimension of Sunday?!
In a homily in Vienna, Austria, recently, Pope Benedict XVI highlighted the threat that hovers upon the environment and Creation in general, stressing the necessity to pay greater attention to, what he called, “the ecological dimension of Sunday”, the day when the Church thanks God for the Creation. He said: “At a time when creation seems to be endangered in so many ways through human activity, we should consciously advert to this dimension of Sunday too”.
This “ecological dimension” of Sunday is a new language by which the Pope tries to show the Vatican’s leadership in a global campaign to “save the planet” (see http://zenit.org/article-20450?l=english). Wouldn’t that be what some are calling “ECOmenism”?
But in a theological perspective, we see in the papal discourse a clear distortion of the real meaning of the Sabbath institution: he points to Sunday as a day to celebrate creation, which doesn’t match the biblical teaching, for that role is assigned to the seventh-day Sabbath as being the “memorial of creation”.
According to the Genesis creation record, on the first day God was acting in His work, as Creator, and only on the seventh-day He rested, blessed and sanctified the day (Gen. 2:2, 3). So, this twisting of meanings is certainly a subtle change of the Bible’s teaching and symbolism on the subject of what constitutes the institution to remember the Creator and His creation.
In the USA, on the other hand, campaigns stressing greater respect for Sunday and the 10 Commandments are under way. A “10 Commandments Commission” was formed to promote a “10 Commandments Day” (which is being set for the 1st Sunday of May) under the command of influential Evangelical leaders, such as James Dobson, Benny Hynn, Charles Colson, Pat Robertson, Don Wildmon and a good number of others (see: http://www.ldausa.org/index.cfm and http://www.tencommandmentsday.com/).
The promoters of these significant campaigns understand that the moral and spiritual decline of the great North-American nation (and all over the world) is due to the failure of society to consider seriously these divine principles, which seems a good thing, but that implies serious dangers for religious freedom. Such initiatives could lead to having religio-political systems influencing the government to dictate norms according to the expectations and interpretations of these leaders. History teaches us a sober lesson that when there is a mix of religion and politics, minorities are always hurt. . .
In an interview on May 18, 2005 to the program “Fresh Air”, of the NPR network (National Public Radio), that covers practically the entire country, Dr. James D. Kennedy, influential minister and evangelist who had an intense radio and TV activity before passing away in September, 2007, said openly that the principle of separation of Church and State in the USA is an error that goes against the ideals of the Christian founders of the nation, and should be simply discarded. This is a very worrisome notion. His interview can be heard through the following link: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4656600).
We understand through the study of Bible prophetic statements that the final events on this planet will have much to do with the Sabbath/Sunday question. It will be the definition of who will bear the seal of God, and who will receive the “mark of the beast”. And that the obligatory character of total suspension of activities on Sundays is not a new idea we can see just recalling the “rehearsal” of that during a very serious crisis in recent decades--the oil embargo of the 70’s. What day in the week was affected by those politico-economical developments of the time? The older ones remember the gas stations closing on Sundays in many countries throughout the world.
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