Loving your Neighbor

 Is meaningless without first loving God.

Jesus declared, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40.

While these two commandments are the foundations of our faith, our love of our Lord supersedes the call to love our neighbor and ourselves. This current generation has lifted the love of self to transcendent heights. Mainline churches feed this narrative by affirming those who choose to elevate their desires above all else. We absolutely can love our neighbor as ourselves without affirming that which separates them from God’s love. Once our human desires supersede our identities as followers of Christ, we no longer worship Him, we worship ourselves.

In deference to the Beatles song, love is not all you need. The dichotomy of loving, while correcting, is a difficult road to travel. Our unrelenting judgementalism often closes the door while eliciting anger and resentment from the very people we are to be reaching out with love. While we endeavor to help the lost find Christ, our spiritual ineptness often shuts down any opportunity to do so. Question is, how do we “gently instruct” the misguided back to Christ before they are lost to the evil one?

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 

Even though we were enemies of God, Jesus went to that cross and died for us, and through our faith in Him, grants us forgiveness of all our sin and guarantees a place with him throughout eternity. Is this too great an ask? By faith alone. He only wants our heart, nothing else. Heavy stuff. God wants all His children to be with Him in eternity. It pains Him greatly if even one of His children are lost to the evil one. God loves all His children unconditionally. By His grace and mercy, He forgives all sin, no matter what! But, in order to partake in His eternity, faith in the Risen Christ is necessary. If our well-intended actions push away those in need of God’s grace, we are not building God’s Kingdom. We have become an impediment to it.

Human sexuality is the vehicle used by the evil one to divide and conquer. Humankind’s innate selfishness is the tool that sharpens the sword that separates us from God. Perverting humankind’s diversities creates an easy avenue to divide and create dissention based upon insignificant differences, such as skin color, socio-economic status, political and religious beliefs. We are all God’s children. That makes us all brothers and sisters. Even that pink haired, nose ringed young lady who shouts out her distain for Christianity. Even that young man who identifies as a woman. Even those who spew hatred towards others that have different opinions than themselves. God loves and wants each and every one of His children to come to Him.

With Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection, God opens reconciliation to all who believe. Without legitimate discourse, human to human reconciliation can never be reached. The goal is to engage in real discussion, which also includes listening without judging. It is not our job to judge. This is a tall task as it remains all too easy to remain bound by the law. While the Gospel frees us from the consequences of the law, the law teaches what God expects of us. Sexual immorality is mentioned over 6000 times in the Bible. Any sexual relations outside of the sacrament of marriage is called immoral. The sacrament of marriage is reserved for one man and one woman. What of our neighbors in a same-sex relationship? Those that identify as transgender? Those who have multiple sex partners in and out of relationships? We are wondrously formed by God, each designed for His purposes. No matter how we look, what our strengths or weaknesses, talents or lack of talents, or our status in life, God has a place for you in His plan for us. Just believe!

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”  He died for everyone. His mercy and grace is available to all, no matter what. He loves the worst of us, even me and you.

We are called to testify to our neighbors about Christ’s love for them. We are to share the joy we receive from being loved by Him. We are called to plant seeds that the Holy Spirit can nurture and grow. We are not called to cast judgement or try to save the lost of our own volition. We must find a way to reach out in Christian love with the hope that the door may open, if just a crack, for the Holy Spirit to take root. The late Pastor Tim Keller had a way to disarm the most fervent denier. Listening, while posing questions about the person and their beliefs. Often, the person discovered that their own arguments lacked validity, opening the door to rational discussion. Be immersed in His Word. Pray for guidance. Wear your spiritual armor and listen to the Holy Spirit when an opportunity to testify arises.

“The whole being of any Christian is faith and love. Faith brings the person to God; love brings the person to people.” Martin Luther

 

 

 

 

Delineation

 Delineation

There is a clear and present danger.

Good and evil. Right and wrong. Sensible and absurd. Black and white. Clear concepts that define a cogent reality. When society attempts to redefine the tenets that hold the fabric of that society together, society will ultimately crumble. When government fails to enforce the laws enacted to protect society from those who would cause harm, anarchy ensues. When proven principles are intentionally blurred, morphing into shades of gray, the difference between what is right and what is wrong is obscured. American culture is heading down such a deep rabbit hole that it may prevent a return to sanity.

The Founders deliberately and thoughtfully imbedded Judeo-Christian values into a Constitution that formed a unique system of self-governance, of, for and by the people. The hallmark of our Constitutional Republic is that the government does not rule, but serves at the will of the people. If any elected public servant fails his or her constituents, the citizens decide if he/she will be entrusted to continue as a representative of the people. Elections have consequences when the people pay attention.

Unfortunately, our system of free and fair elections is being corrupted by those willing to do whatever is necessary to remain in power. Rules are bent and laws disregarded by unelected bureaucrats and leftist activists. For those of you adhering to the “Big Lie” dichotomy, the following are some of the voting irregularities from 2020 and some new ones for 2024.

·         Unsecured voting drop boxes without the requisite chain of custody.

·         Voting deputies prohibited from nursing homes, allowing persons deemed incompetent to cast ballots.

·         Poll watchers prohibited from observing vote tallies.

·         Mail in ballot curing in violation of election laws.

·         In Wisconsin alone, over 160,000 new indefinitely confined voters were registered that circumvented the ID requirement.

·         Mark Zuckerberg’s Center for technology and civic life and Center for election innovation and research funneled over $400 million, which over 85% went to democrat strongholds in swing states in an attempt to sway the election to democrats.

·         Election officials in democrat run cities colluded with and relinquished their statutory responsibility to manage the election, turning it over to democrat operatives connected with Zuckerberg’s centers.

·         The democrat party partnered with numerous non-profits to engage in a large-scale ballot harvesting scheme in the seven swing states.

·         Democrat Secretaries of State colluded to thwart the re-election of Donald Trump by allowing every ballot, including those mailed after election day, to be counted.

·         There is growing evidence that the events on January 6^th, 2021 were orchestrated and used to conceal further evidence of the numerous discrepancies from the 2020 Presidential election by blunting and disparaging any efforts to expose them.

·         And now in 2024, evidence has been uncovered that illegal aliens are being transported to democrat cities in swing states. Exploiting a loophole in election law that was meant to allow homeless persons the opportunity to vote, non-government organizations (NGOs) are registering the illegal aliens to vote as homeless, without proof of citizenship and without requirement of ID. Those ballots are then filled out and mailed in their names.

Once decried as conspiracy theorists, those pointing out the clear and present danger to our nation are being vindicated as example after example of voting fraud is exposed and the media is silent. The January 6^th committee destroyed evidence after the committee was disbanded. Exculpatory evidence was suppressed. Nothing to see here from the mainstream media. Legal warfare against Donald Trump and others is painfully obvious, yet the mainstream media actually has the temerity to accuse Trump of receiving preferential treatment from the courts.

The democrat party continually cast Republicans, conservatives, Christians and in particular, Donald Trump as a threat to democracy. The United States is a Constitutional Republic, not a democracy. Leftist ideology demands that one must continually accuse your enemies of the crimes that you are committing. The democrat party IS the existential threat to our nation. They are destroying free, fair and trusted elections. They are destroying the nuclear family, using public funds to eliminate fathers, targeting those in the inner cities. They are destroying education by substituting woke ideology at the expense of teaching the basics. They are destroying the very fabric of society by mandating, diversity, inclusion, and equity and destroying the meritocracy that promotes the best and brightest. They are destroying the global status of this nation by projecting weakness and embracing appeasement.

The time has come for those who wish to gain power at the expense of destroying this great nation. The time has come for democrats to pay for their treachery. It is time to vote against those who fail to represent the interests of “We the People.” It is time for the democrat party to become an irrelevant minority until they decide to change course. Every vote for a democrat is a vote against your own self-interest. Democrats view their voting base only as necessary tools to keep them in power, but they truly despise everything about them and this nation. Your vote is important. Don’t waste it!