Love Others -God wants us to not only love those in the body of believers but unbelievers as well. God may not like what they do, but He loves them as much as He loves us. He reached out to us when we were sinners and we should do the same to those who are still sinners and do not know Him yet. Hopefully they will come to know God’s love as we extend God’s love to them and they will leave their sinful ways and accept Christ as their Savior. God did not love us based on whether we accepted Him and our love for others should not be based on their acceptance of Christ. God loves us Concern for others involves more than just seeing them as people of value. It involves active concern for the welfare of others where we look out for each other. The world has no concern except to survive and is always looking out for number one. Their first concern in any decision is what will it benefit them. The church needs to show active concern for others as it develops programs and makes decisions by considering the impact it will have on those involved, not just on its benefit to us. The church needs to actively develop programs to minister to church members and train them to minister to those around the church who don’t belong to a church. The church has turned most of its social services over to the government so most people no longer see the church as caring about them. They see the government supplying their needs and now look to the government when they need help. While the government provides for their immediate needs like food and housing, it does little to provide long term help to enable them to get back on their feet and able to help themselves. In fact, many government rules prevent or at least discourage people from helping themselves. If the government provides for their needs, there is little incentive to provide for themselves. In addition, while the government can supply their physical needs, it can not supply their spiritual needs. Concern for others also involves forgiveness– Many people are afraid to show any sign of weakness because they are afraid that others will take advantage of it. As a result, they are afraid to admit that they made a mistake and ask for forgiveness. By the same token, they are afraid to extend forgiveness to others because they are afraid others will see it as a sign of weakness in them and try to take advantage of them. As a result, our bitterness and resentment drives a wedge between us cutting us off from fellowship with each other. God calls us to forgive others, just as He has forgiven us. In fact, it is because He has forgiven us that He expects us to forgive others (see the parable of the King and His servants in Matt 18:22-35). As we forgive others, we break down the barriers of bitterness and resentment which divide us and which prevent us from experiencing the joy that comes from fellowship with each other.
Environment-L
While Democrats claim to support scientifically based transition to renewable energy, they ignore much of the scientific evidence. While they push the benefits, they ignore the problems created. While they push reducing pollution emissions in the United States, they ignore the fact that we have already reduced the vast majority of emissions and further efforts will seriously hurt the economy while producing almost no benefit to the environment. In addition, they push for stricter controls in the United States while ignoring China and India who produce the vast majority of man-made pollution. In addition, many so-called scientific studies have been doctored to create scary scenarios and ignore the real facts. They pushed scary stories of the dangers of overpopulation to justify the need for abortion at a time the birth rate in the United States was actually declining and food production was exceeding demand resulting in needless destruction of grain because there was no place to store it. In fact, last year the world’s population actually decreased and the government continues to pay farmers to keep thousands of acres out of food production to support food prices and prevent surpluses.
Health Care-C
Democrats state that they believe in scientific evidence based policy for vaccinations and health care yet they pushed universal mask mandates long after they were no longer needed and ordered churches to stay closed long after most large social gatherings were allowed for political reasons rather than scientific reasons. The vaccines were approved long before adequate testing was carried out. In addition, information on problems with the vaccines were withheld for a long time. In addition, they have pushed transgender puberty blockers with no scientific evidence that the person is really trapped in the wrong body and no evidence that they are safe. They are also pushing gender correcting surgery with no scientific basis. Many countries in Europe are now banning them. In addition, they are pushing them without informing the recipient of the dangers and possible complications and often without parental notification, which are both required by law in all States for any medical procedure.
Politics-AB-AE
Democrats are continually saying that the Republicans pose a threat to democracy. Let’s look at the facts– Freedoms-Democrats seek to curb the right to carry a gun, the right to free worship and public prayer, and the right to life for unborn babies, They also seek to restrict the right to conduct business through increased regulations restricting citizens and businesses and seek to expand the government and extend its powers to control citizens and businesses. . Republicans seek to reduce regulations, and restore rights guaranteed under the Constitution. President Obama and President Biden have sought to promote their agenda through executive directives in spite of widespread opposition by American citizens while President Trump canceled many of the executive orders that President Obama had issued. Freedom of speech-Democrats seek to restrict the right to free speech through censorship and violent protests, while Republicans encourage free speech and open discussion. Democrats promote freedom of choice as long as you support the choice they tell you to and threaten you if you don’t, while Republicans seek to offer informed choice through open discussion of any alternatives. The Law-Democrats appoint judges that ignore the Constitution and federal law to promote their personal agenda, while Republicans appoint judges who respect the law and the will of the people. Voting-Democrats seek to strip away all protections for voting to allow unlimited fraud while Republicans seek to restore the protections that ensure only eligible voters vote and there is no possibility of inserting fake ballots. While Democrats are tied to big donors supporting abortion, unions, green energy and Gay rights, and are pressured to support legislation supporting them, Republican politicians depend on private contributions and so are fairly open to respond to the will of their constituents. It appears that Democrats pose a much greater threat to democracy then Republicans.
Second Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 10
Values-Christian values had so taken over the western world that many in the church had begun to view the community’s values as Christian. Unnoticed by many Christians is the fact that liberals have been taking over community values through the schools, the media, and the entertainment industry. While liberals have been very vocal about what they believe, the church has been silent and done little to counter the liberal teachings. Many Christians still believe we are a Christian nation, but our community values are anything but Christian. Our communities at large no longer value life, the rule of law, the family, or any other values taught by God. If the church is to regain the moral high ground, it must speak out against the liberal teachings. However, it can not simple proclaim that God says so because they don’t recognize the authority of a God they don’t believe exists. Christians must demonstrate through their lives that God’s values are superior to man’s values.
First Sunday of Kingdomtide-Sept 3
Salt & Light Kingdomtide involves life in the kingdom. While Jesus is coming back someday to establish His kingdom on the earth, we are called to redeem the world around us as we live out our life every day. We are called to transform our world as we become salt and light in our community. Salt is a preservative. It prevents the spread of decay by creating a condition that prevents the growth of that which causes decay. Christians are called to create a situation in their community that prevents the spread of evil. They can do that by winning souls and turning them from evil and by enacting laws that prevent the spread of evil by punishing those who engage in it. Light on the other hand exposes that which is hidden so we don’t trip over it. Evil likes to hide in the dark, but light exposes it so it can be removed or destroyed. Christians are also called to expose evil. Evil thrives on lies but Christians are called to teach the truth, exposing the lies. In addition, through education we teach others the consequences of sin and by living out God’s love, we show the world the benefits of love and care for each other and it will stand out in contrast to the evil in selfishness and hatred. Kingdomtide should be a time when we seek to cultivate the qualities that enable us to be salt and light in our communities.