Posted on 01/27/2008 7:56:14 PM PST by Manfred the Wonder Dawg
January 25, 2008
ESV Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
In recent days I have spent time in Lima and Sullana Peru and Mexico City and I have discovered that people by nature are the same. Man has a heart that is inclined to selfishness and idolatry. Sin abounds in the remotest parts of the land because the heart is desperately wicked. Thousands bow before statues of Mary and pray to her hoping for answers. I have seen these people stare hopelessly at Mary icons, Jesus icons, and a host of dead saints who will do nothing for them. I have talked with people who pray to the pope and say that they love him. I talked with one lady who said that she knew that Jesus was the Savior, but she loved the pope. Thousands bow before Santa Muerte (holy death angel) in hopes that she will do whatever they ask her. I have seen people bring money, burning cigarettes, beer, whiskey, chocolate, plants, and flowers to Santa Muerte in hopes of her answers. I have seen these people bowing on their knees on the concrete in the middle of public places to worship their idol. Millions of people come into the Basilica in Mexico City and pay their money, confess their sins, and stare hopelessly at relics in hope that their sins will be pardoned. In America countless thousands are chained to baseball games, football games, material possessions, and whatever else their heart of idols can produce to worship.
My heart has broken in these last weeks because the God of heaven is not honored as he ought to be honored. People worship the things that are created rather than worshiping the Creator. God has been gracious to all mankind and yet mankind has hardened their hearts against a loving God. God brings the rain on the just and unjust. God brings the beautiful sunrises and sunsets upon the just and unjust. God gives good gifts unto all and above all things he has given his Son that those who would believe in him would be saved. However, man has taken the good things of God and perverted them unto idols and turned their attention away from God. I get a feel for Jesus as he overlooked Jerusalem or Paul as he beseeched for God to save Israel. When you accept the reality of the truth of the glory of God is breaks your heart that people would turn away from the great and awesome God of heaven to serve lesser things. Moses was outraged by the golden calf, the prophets passionately preached against idolatry, Jesus was angered that the temple was changed in an idolatrous business, and Paul preached to the idolaters of Mars Hill by telling them of the unknown God.
I arrived back at home wondering how I should respond to all the idolatry that I have beheld in these last three weeks. I wondered how our church here in the states should respond to all of the idolatry in the world. What are the options? First, I suppose we could sit around and hope that people chose to get their life together and stop being idolaters. However, I do not know how that could ever happen apart from them hearing the truth. Second, I suppose we could spend a lifetime studying cultural issues and customs in hope that we could somehow learn to relate to the people of other countries. However, the bible is quite clear that all men are the same. Men are dead in sin, shaped in iniquity, and by nature are the enemies of God. Thirdly, we could pay other people or other agencies to go and do a work for us while we remain comfortably in the states. However, there is no way to insure that there will be doctrinal accuracy or integrity. If we only pay other people to take the gospel we will miss out on all of the benefits of being obedient to the mission of God. Lastly, we could seek where God would have us to do a lasting work and then invest our lives there for the glory of God. The gospel has the power to raise the dead in any culture and we must be willing to take the gospel wherever God would have us take it. It is for sure that our church cannot go to every country and reach every people group, so we must determine where God would have us work and seek to be obedient wherever that is.
It seems that some doors are opening in the Spanish speaking countries below us and perhaps God is beginning to reveal where we are to work. There are some options for work to be partnered with in Peru and there could be a couple of options in Mexico. The need is greater than I can express upon this paper for a biblical gospel to be proclaimed in Peru and Mexico. Oh, that God would glorify his great name in Peru and Mexico by using a small little church in a town that does not exist to proclaim his great gospel amongst a people who desperately need the truth.
I give thanks to the LORD for allowing me the privilege of going to these countries and broadening my horizons. The things that I have seen will be forever engraved upon my heart. I will long remember the pastors that I spent time with in Peru and I will never forget Adolfo who translated for me in Mexico. I will relish the time that I spent with Paul Washer and the others. When I think of church I will forever remember being on top of that mountain in Sullana at that church which had no electricity and no roof. I am convinced that heaven was looking down on that little church on top of that mountain and very few people on earth even know that it exist. Oh, God I pray that the things of this world will continue to grow dim and that God’s people will be caught up in his glorious presence.
Because of the truth: Pastor: J. Randall Easter II Timothy 2:19 "Our God is in heaven and does whatever He pleases."(Ps. 115:3) "He predestined us according to the good pleasure of His will."(Eph. 1:5) Those who have been saved have been saved for His glory and they are being made holy for this is the will of God. Are you being made holy? Spurgeon says, "If your religion does not make you holy it will damn you to hell."
You know, Lord C, I’ve read exactly the same sort of description of Catholicism—yes, that and even worse.
Again-—the bows and arrows are coming from both sides.
Perhaps we shouldn’t expect tooooo much at all
from the RC edifice . . . so numbed, clouded, bewildered, confused and bewitched by all the idolatry and blasphemies and all.
Perhaps a reference could be offered where I did that?
Also, I would never use hyperbole in any of my posts, ever.
= = =
Welll, I do think that the increased HUMOR is commendable.
I do understand the consternation.
And, I can sympathesize, if not empathesize.
It’s really dreadful when one’s monopoly on a given strategy or SOP is compromised that others become just as adept at such things. Quite a dreadful development, no doubt.
I quibble, Quix, with your methods of debate, your reading of Scripture, your understanding of Sacred Tradition and your use of ALL CAPS in some of your posts.
I don’t, however, have any doubt that your want to love, serve and know the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul. That fact forces me to remember that in the end, you, I and even the Calvinist are brothers and sisters in Christ and While it is important to speak the Truth, as we each know it, it must be done, as Paul said, “in love”. So a little HUMOR keeps me and my fallen self in line. ;)
And thankfully so.
Progress is progress.
Though I suspect the comment was . . . perhaps unadmirably . . . referring to past campaigns and wars.
Thanks for your charity and even handeness in such an assessment.
I’ve been persistently amazed that my . . . fiestiness, pointedness, fierceness has always gotten the reactions when all such is perhaps as often as not interspersed, wrapped up with, entangled with at least some ATTEMPTS at humor. LOL.
OF COURSE such camps will fiercely disagree—else we’d all be in the same camp! Sheesh. No surprise there.
OF COURSE we’ll all have some fierce things to say else we’d be wimpy cohorts of our persuasions and not bothering much with anyone else at all anyway.
OF COURSE we’ll be human and flawedly so in our communications . . . none of us are Jesus . . . or even Mary or Calvin, for that matter.
OF COURSE the more intense amongst us will be ranting, raving, pontificating at the top of our fingers else we’d be sucking our thumbs reading our commentaries or some such.
It’s better than being luke warm.
But I don’t know of any RC’s hereon—even those I might be tempted to consider heavily under demonic delusion—I can’t think of any I’d exclude from the class of all those I’d seek to help with whatever charity available to me, if I could and God’s priorities for me and my resources allowed such.
I have a LOT of warm compassionate caring feelings for even those most fiercely and bitterly hostile to me hereon. That is a serious priority to me.
At some level, the other is just noise. I think it is, on occasion, IMPORTNT BIBLICAL noise one is duty bound to share in some contexts . . . but still . . . overmuch, probably, just noise.
That is part and parcel of the sado-evangelist ethos.
Do you think I should have put a ;) at the end of it?
OIC, so you're saying the use of "blue" language and "rubber" as a prefix is because others have used it on you...
Fascinating, indeed.
It's the most charitable and accurate label I'm comfortable using. You're quite welcome to avoid my posts.
I'm not about to concede that the RC edifice has a monopoly on "catholic."
I don't think the whole edifice any longer qualifies as a bonafide Christian Church.
And, it's chock full of 1600 years of fossilized, encrusted, !!!!TRADITIONS!!!! of men, doctrines of demons and the like . . . utter destructive hogwash . . .
as one would expect of any 1600 year old HUMAN institution.
That's the REALITY from my perspective, reading of UNRUBBERIZED history books and my UNRUBBERIZED Bible.
I encourage y'all to
DEAL WITH IT.
THIS FORUM is NOT some idealized fantasized archetypal MARION EARTH MOTHER cozy little lap and nurturing bossom.
This is a somewhat moderated free-for all of RELIGIOUS ideas, convictions, perspectives, realities etc.
WHICH MEANS that the RC edifice does NOT hereon have a lock, death grip on the boundaries, definitions, terms, interpretations, constructions on reality thrown about hereon. Hopefully, the days are gone when the RC whining hereon seemingly compelled biased or easily manipulated RM's to kowtow to RC sensibilities, whining and thumb sucking like they would to no others.
This is NOT some mutually flattering context of a cozy Parish hall or friendly BINGO game.
DEAL WITH IT.
NOW, GIVEN that the gauntlet seems to be cast toward talking about sadistic stuff . . .
Which INQUISITIONAL torture would you like to discuss first? And by what criteria do you wish to compare such INQUISITIONAL tortures to my mere words? And how do you propose to stifle the guffaws over the silliness of comparing the Inquisitional tortures to my mere words?
Actually, the RC edifice is rife with historical TRULY SADISTIC treatments of those not kowtowing to it's POLITICAL POWER MONGERING EDICTS. So, I guess I would have to concede that the RC edifice is far more the expert on sadistic actions, edicts, pograms and the like.
Yet I'm the one labeled sadistic? Fascinating.
No wonder the Bible is so challenging for the RC edifice to interpret and simply follow, obey.
I never guaranteed the translation.
It’s clear that the translation services hereon are simply not adequate to effect any reasonably accurate translation into some dialects.
I guess said dialects shall just have to remain . . .
unaware . . . unknowing . . . uninformed.
. . . with my symapthies for such a state, however.
Dude, check out #235 and see what I got out of a one sentence deployment ;o)
Just think of what I’d have gotten if I mentioned the thread where the guy claims to have found a UFO landing strip in Antartica with Google Earth!
Awwwwwwwww bess him lil ol heart!
LOL.
I only wish you could see me smile ;o)
Just wondering if this is the new freedom of the Religion Forum or if the RM will soon be lowering the hammer.
P.S. I kinda like it when people refer to me as Lord C. Pass it along to all the Catholics. ;^)
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