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Seek me and live.  This phrase is one that permeates all of scripture.  In the book of Amos, God is proclaiming His pending judgment on Israel and all the nations round about Israel.  These nations had quarreled and made war with Israel, took slaves from Israel and sold them to one another, practiced idolatry, ripped open the pregnant women, burned their dead and so on.  Israel had turned their back on their God, worshiped other gods, oppressed the poor, denied justice to the oppressed, and despised those who told the truth.  All of these nations were ripe for judgment and were judged by God.  Throughout God’s proclamation of pending judgment however, God is ever calling Israel back to repentance, the implication being, that if they repent, God will relent.

What of our government today?  Does God still call nations to account in our modern New Covenant dichotomy?  Consider Romans 13:1-2

13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

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If there is no authority except from God, and the authorities are appointed by God, then the governing authorities have a responsibility before God.  The latter verses of Amos 5 declare:

7 You who turn justice to wormwood, And lay righteousness to rest in the earth!” 8 He made the Pleiades and Orion; He turns the shadow of death into morning And makes the day dark as night; He calls for the waters of the sea And pours them out on the face of the earth; The LORD is His name. 9 He rains ruin upon the strong, So that fury comes upon the fortress. 10 They hate the one who rebukes in the gate, And they abhor the one who speaks uprightly. 11 Therefore, because you tread down the poor And take grain taxes from him, Though you have built houses of hewn stone, Yet you shall not dwell in them; You have planted pleasant vineyards, But you shall not drink wine from them. 12 For I know your manifold transgressions And your mighty sins.  Afflicting the just and taking bribes; Diverting the poor from justice at the gate. 13 Therefore the prudent keep silent at that time, For it is an evil time. 14 Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of hosts will be with you, As you have spoken. 15 Hate evil, love good; Establish justice in the gate. It may be that the LORD God of hosts Will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

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The last phrase says “it may be that the Lord God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph”, but this does not only apply to Israel.  The nation that repents before God is given mercy, as Nineveh was in the book of Jonah.  The United States as well has reason to repent before God, we have become a nation that hates the one who rebukes in the gate and we abhor the one who speaks uprightly.  How so you ask?  Try quoting from the scripture to rebuke ungodly policies (handing out condoms to prevent aids while omitting the teaching on abstinence, the teaching of atheism in our schools, the movement to redefine the definition of marriage are just a few examples) and your argument will be shut down before you even finish the verse.  We are told that the public forum is no place to proclaim God’s word and laws are passed to silence the scriptures.  We tread down the poor and take taxes from him while our representatives take votes on pay raises (though you have built houses of hewn stone).  Imminent domain laws have given increased power to the state to take property from the poor, thereby diverting justice from the poor at the gate.  Last but certainly not least, we also engage in the sin of the Ammonites (Amos 1:13), we rip the fruit of the womb from the pregnant women.  How sick and distorted are those that defend such a practice.

But even still verse 14 proclaims, seek good and not evil, that you may live, hate evil, love good, establish justice in the gate.  There is hope, God has graciously waited for us to return to Him as a nation, as when we first began.  Seek Me and live says the Lord.  Will we?

In Galatians 1:6-10 we read:

6 I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, 7 which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. 9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men?  For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

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What of the church?  As a church have we faithfully administered the gospel of Christ to His sheep?  I would say that at least from what we see on television and media the answer to that would be no.  When Joel Olstein and T.D. Jakes are touted as great evangelists and what Christianity should look like by some Christians and those in the world we are in desperate trouble.  The doctrine of hell, along with the Trinity has been thrown out by the bunch mentioned above.  How can we proclaim the Gospel, the good news effectively when the current condition of the unbeliever is denied or omitted?  One must have knowledge of his dangerous position before God, that he has offended God and that God is holding him accountable for that offense for repentance to actually take place.  One must know the nature of the God he serves to be able to serve Him and bring glory to Him.  2 Peter 1:3 states:

3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,

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How can we be given all things pertaining to life and godliness if we deny the very triune nature of God?  As Paul states above, this is no gospel at all and is accursed by God.  But it doesn’t stop there, my observation has been that we live in an information age that has produced the most biblically illiterate Christians in centuries.  Doctrine is despised or shelved in place of elaborate worship and drama skits.  Preachers, preaching the gospel have been replaced by entertainers putting on a show for the seeker.  The law of God has been abrogated, to recall it fondly is called legalism, and as a result license permeates the church.  Divorce is rampant, fornication the norm, church discipline is shunned and called judgmental and harsh.  Known wolves are welcomed by the so called shepherds into the fold.  Modesty is old fashioned, replaced by tattoos and body piercings.  Narcissism is the prevailing philosophy of life of most church goers, despising their neighbors, dishonoring their parents.  Is there any hope?

The Western Church was in darkness for nearly one thousand years under Roman Catholic rule, with very similar problems the Protestant Church faces today in America, before the reformation; but the reformation woke up it’s believers and theologians and renewal followed to the extent that the greatest non canonical document the church has ever known was produced, The Westminster Confession and Catechisms.  2 Timothy 4:1-2 declares:

4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.

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We must preach the Word, not a watered down compromised word, but the full council of God.  We cannot be ashamed of the gospel as some are today, we must embrace the hardest of sayings as we would the most beautiful of sayings.  The church must seek God and live!!

Lastly, let me quote one scripture from Deuteronomy 32:35:

35 Vengeance is Mine, and recompense;Their foot shall slip in due time;For the day of their calamity is at hand,And the things to come hasten upon them.’ NKJV

Not only does God judge the nations, and the church but the individual as well.  You who are faithless, you are found to be under condemnation.  The wrath of God follows your every step, it is waiting for your foot to slip, and when it does (and it will), you will experience sudden and unexpected, eternal destruction; and the only reason that you have not already slipped is because God’s appointed time has not yet come.  You are held without excuse before God, as Romans 1:20 clearly proclaims and when you face him you will only experience his anger and fury. 

For the moment you are kept out of hell by the ordinance of God,  for some purpose that only He is aware of, but as Jonathon Edwards says in his sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, “Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God’s enemies. God’s creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God’s wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor”, and “hell opens its mouth wide to receive you; and if God should permit it, you would be hastily swallowed up and lost”.

But, this does not need be your end, God is waiting for some reason, repent and be saved!  You may not be assigned to this end and God may be calling you.  You who are religious, who spend your Sundays hearing over and over, what must be done to be saved, and yet have refused to do so in the presence of God in church, you are in an even more dangerous position before God.  You are deceived into thinking that you may escape God’s curse and wrath but Matthew 7:21 states:

 21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

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Do not be deceived, God knows your heart and He has told you what it is to serve Him and you are responsible to do the will of the Father, as He has revealed.  Do not sit in church for one more Sunday under wrath, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, seek God and live!!

 Clay 

There seems to be plenty of debate today concerning the proper form of discipline that parents should exercise with unruly children.  Most of the support for spanking (at least in the western world) is limited to those who believe in the inerrancy of scripture and is met with hearty disapproval from the scholastic community as well as the government.  Most child psychologists, religious liberals, secularists, and others now oppose spanking.  They have turned to studies that have concluded that even a minor amount off spanking increases the likelihood of children growing up into adults with problems of alcoholism, drug abuse, anxiety and depression. 

One of the more prevalent ideas about spanking is that it teaches children that it is acceptable for the bigger, stronger individual to perpetrate violence on the weaker in order to get their way.  Victims of spankings will in turn act out in violent ways now and in the future, and most likely continue the cycle of violence with their children.  Spanking has been classified as abuse and in many states outlawed.  There appears to be devastating evidence against those who champion spanking with case studies like the 1987 Mauer-Wallerstein study which concluded that “there appears to be a linear association between the frequency of slapping and spanking during childhood and a lifetime prevalence of anxiety disorder, alcohol abuse or dependence and externalizing problems.”  If you are hoping that your children become well adjusted adults, the last thing you would want to practice in your home is spanking.  It appears that Solomon, moved by God, had it wrong.

Why even the Methodist church would agree with the prevailing secular take on the issue.  On 2004-MAY-31 the United Methodist Church’s General Conference passed two anti-spanking resolutions — each by an overwhelming vote. In doing so, they repudiated the teachings of their founder, John Wesley, who believed in the corporal punishment of infants and children was necessary “to break their rebellious wills and save their souls.“  They concluded that: ·        Whereas, corporal punishment models aggressive behavior as a solution to conflict, ·        Whereas, some research has associated corporal punishment with increased aggression in children and adults, increased substance abuse, increased risk of crime and violence, low self-esteem, and chronic depression, ·        Whereas it is difficult to imagine Jesus of Nazareth condoning any action that is intended to hurt children physically or psychologically, ·        Whereas, time outs and deprivation of privileges are as effective as corporal punishment in stopping undesirable behavior, ·        Whereas, the effectiveness of corporal punishment decreases with subsequent use and therefore leads caretakers to hit children more severely, ·        Whereas, children must eventually develop their own conscience and self discipline, which are fostered by a home environment of love, respect and trust,Therefore, be it resolved that the United Methodist Church encourages its members to adopt discipline methods that do not include corporal punishment of their children. And be it further resolved that the United Methodist Church encourages congregations to offer opportunities for dialogue and education on effective discipline of children.

In their last bullet point they state that a home should be an environment of love, respect and trust.  The implication is that in a home where corporal punishment is rendered, these aspects of the relationship between parent and child are destroyed.  A child cannot feel loved or respected and he will distrust his parents if he is ever struck.  Still Proverbs 13:24 boldly asserts “He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly”, and “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; The rod of correction will drive it far from him” Proverbs 22:15, and again “Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You shall beat him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell.^” Proverbs 23:13-14.  From the hand of King Solomon whom God had given wisdom and whom the Holy Spirit inspired to write these words, we see a different view.  To hold to the secular and Methodist view, would be, as God states, to hate your son.  It is the exact opposite of what the Methodist bullet point asserts.  Administering the rod of correction to your children is in fact, loving, and as John Wesley rightly quoted it is used “to break their rebellious wills and save their souls.“  Those who refuse to administer the rod, leave their children dangling over the pit of hell where folly, bound up in their hearts has led them.

It is after all, the heart that directs behavior; and discipline should be directed at the heart and not behavior alone.  Ted Tripp writes in his book “Shepherding a Childs Heart”, “bad behavior represents a failure to obey and is, therefore, the occasion for correction—but the focal point of correction is not behavior.  The focal point is the heart of the child that is called to submission to God’s authority.  The goal of correction is not simply to modify behavior, but to bring the child to sweet, harmonious, and humble heart submission to God’s will that he obey Mom and Dad.  The heart is the battleground.  The spanking comes only because it is God’s method of driving foolishness far from your child’s heart.”  To reach the level of the heart, one must use the rod of correction, and bring the child back from the brink that folly and foolishness leads them to.  They are too impressionable to be left exclusively to other forms of discipline, which fails to shake them loose from their sin.  God has instructed that a loving, firm hand will turn them towards Him.    

The experts seem rather convincing on the surface; they have case studies, powerful organizations, the government and the Methodist church on their side.  Yet how much credence should we give to studies that will not even admit to the ultimate cause of all unsavory behavior, namely, the lack of conformity to the revealed will of God, or in other words sin, and man’s rebellious nature?  Their conclusions are defective.  All of their papers, case studies, endorsements, and laws, are in the end nothing but dust, but the word of God, through the writings of Solomon and through the faithfulness of those who believe and obey, will produce a harvest worthy to be called children of God from generation to generation.

The current administration has become the whipping boy for those involved in this movement, blaming them for failing to take the necessary action needed to thwart the coming of this global catastrophe.  A Google search will reveal no shortage of criticisms from plenty of sources on the president’s policies on Global warming.  One of the more outrageous blogs written by Jesse Lava and posted at Faithful Democrats.com cites a World Health Organization study that attributes the death of 77,000 people in Asia to the effects of Global Warming.  Amazingly, after citing that George Bush has not kept some promises on reducing carbon emissions he states, “The blood of those 77,000 people a year is therefore on Bush’s hands”.  He does not blame Chinese President Hu Jintao, nor India’s Manmohan Singh who rule ambitious industrial nations within the same hemisphere, but George W. Bush, the president of a country on the other side of the world. 

To assume that we know the causes for the temperature increases is arrogant enough but to put a name to the cause is foolishly audacious.  Our planet has always had shifting temperatures, rising and falling at different times in the past and for vastly different reasons than what it is attributed to today.  The fact that there is not a consensus among scientists should elicit some caution in those presuming to know the cause.  Sadly, it hasn’t, stadiums and artists have been booked to tell us all why, and what we can do to cure it.

Have we erred in understanding God’s command to have dominion over His creation to the extent that we creatures now threaten His world?  God has said concerning man, “let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Gen 1:26.  God also said “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Gen 1:28.  Burning fossil fuels for energy seems to be in line with these commands God has given man.  We have taken what God has provided and put it to use for the benefit of all.  One would have to argue that we have perverted the dominion command and are violating what God’s intention is for the handling of these natural resources.  One problem for this position is that burning oil for energy is referenced many times in scripture and is a blessing and has not been legislated against by God. 

Another problem for this position deals with the sovereignty of God over His creation.  As 2 Peter 3:5-7 says, “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water.  But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same Word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”  The Word is preserving not only the earth but the heavens as well.  God creates the world and He destroys it.  Jesus is the author of the climate on this planet and it definitely is in crisis,” for we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Romans 8:22.  The problem is not the exhaust of my car but the rebellion of man towards His creator, and until all men bow their knee to their king the creation and all of its inhabitants will suffer.   

If Christ by His will has determined to increase the temperature on the planet, then it cannot be thwarted.  No amount of carpooling, concerts, treaties or demolishing of smokestacks will frustrate His desires.  Those who think they understand the comings and goings of the winds and the clouds in the atmosphere are indeed experts in hot air.  Perhaps they can prepare themselves like men and answer some ancient questions.

 “ Where were you when God laid the foundations of the earth?
      Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements?
      Surely you know! Or who stretched the line upon it?  To what were its foundations fastened?  Or who laid its cornerstone,  When the morning stars sang together,
      And all the sons of God shouted for joy?  “Or who shut in the sea with doors,
      When it burst forth and issued from the womb;  When God made the clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band;  When God fixed His limit for it,
      And set bars and doors;  When God said, ‘This far you may come, but no farther,
      And here your proud waves must stop!’ “Have you commanded the morning since your days began, and caused the dawn to know its place,  That it might take hold of the ends of the earth, and the wicked be shaken out of it? It takes on form like clay under a seal, and stands out like a garment.  From the wicked their light is withheld,
      And the upraised arm is broken. “Have you entered the springs of the sea?
      Or have you walked in search of the depths?  Have the gates of death been revealed to you?  Or have you seen the doors of the shadow of death?  Have you comprehended the breadth of the earth?  Tell Me, if you know all this.  “ Where is the way to the dwelling of light?  And darkness, where is its place, That you may take it to its territory,
      That you may know the paths to its home? Do you know it, because you were born then, Or because the number of your days is great?  “Have you entered the treasury of snow,  Or have you seen the treasury of hail,  Which God has reserved for the time of trouble, For the day of battle and war?  By what way is light diffused,
      Or the east wind scattered over the earth?  “Who has divided a channel for the overflowing water, Or a path for the thunderbolt, To cause it to rain on a land where there is no one, A wilderness in which there is no man;  To satisfy the desolate waste,
      And cause to spring forth the growth of tender grass? Has the rain a father?
      Or who has begotten the drops of dew?  From whose womb comes the ice?
      And the frost of heaven, who gives it birth? The waters harden like stone,
      And the surface of the deep is frozen “Can you bind the cluster of the Pleiades,
      Or loose the belt of Orion?  Can you bring out Mazzaroth^[a] in its season?
      Or can you guide the Great Bear with its cubs?  Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set their dominion over the earth?  “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, That an abundance of water may cover you? Can you send out lightnings, that they may go, And say to you, ‘Here we are!’?  Who has put wisdom in the mind?^[b]
      Or who has given understanding to the heart?  Who can number the clouds by wisdom?  Or who can pour out the bottles of heaven?

Before you answer though, let me give you a hint, a godly man a long time ago was questioned by God just like this, his answer to God should be the same as yours, “Behold, I am vile;
      What shall I answer You?
      I clasp my hand over my mouth.”