The older I get the more I repeat myself, repeating stories and illustrations that I’ve used before. More than once, I’ve been writing something on this blog, then discovered that I wrote on that exact point at some time in the past!
I’ll try and avoid that in this discussion. There are some important points that are basic to this discussion that I’ve touched on in the past. These include:
- Romans 13: That passage will keep coming up. It’s an amazingly durable passage, able to be used to support so many ideas regarding Christians and government. I wrote a whole series on that passage and won’t spend a lot of time restating my ideas.
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Two key posts in that series:
- Romans 13: What it doesn’t say
- Romans 13: Tying up loose ends
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Citizenship: To me this concept is key regarding Christians and their participation in earthly warfare. What Kingdom are we a part of? How many masters can we serve? Dare we recognize the lordship of an earthly nation?
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From this category, you might especially look at:
- For the good of the Kingdom
- Those pesky false doctrines
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Pledge of Allegiance: Within the discussion of citizenship, I did a series of posts studying the Pledge of Allegiance. Much of what is said will apply to this discussion.
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The last post in that series can be helpful: Answering some pledge questions
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Military: Duh. This category obviously speaks to what we’re looking at.
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Two early posts are especially helpful:
- The church in a militarized society
- Swimming in other waters
So there’s your homework for this discussion! Happy reading. Oh, and please feel free to add to the assignments. I’ve limited myself to this blog, but there’s lots of other good reading out there.
Forgive the formatting on this post. My WordPress installation is so messed up that I can’t get things to work right.
I know the feeling. I will take some time to read.
Okay – I have the day off, and of course forgot to leave the alarm off. So it goes off at 4:00 am on my day off. Get up for awhile and try going back to sleep. Now I am on this facebook and one of the first things I read is I have homework. It’s my day off, there’s a honey do list a mile long and now home work. Should call the boss to open the office so I can relax. Can’t wait to get to it – but it will have to wait. Things to do, places to go, people to see – hope to get to it by Sat. – In Him, Ed
Enjoyed doing my homework. Ready for the next lesson. Unlike the other guys I am retired and spend most of my time either studying the Bible, reading fiction and non-fiction, a lot of it related to the kingdom; and this morning, waiting for my pizza dough to rise.
May you always be at peace,
Wes
From a basis of what is real and what is not allows us to determine our own reality.
Tim presents the bible as his point of reference and follows the teachings of Christ.
Did Christ actually tell him to follow him? Of course not. Christ told Peter to follow him. Others of course were told to follow and thus his little flock was developed. We have to ask ourselves a couple of questions. One, is God in control of our lives, and my answer is of course no. We choose to sight a set of rules and standards and present them and put them into action. We do this as a committment to living with in the guidelines not set by Christ but set by ourselves. They aren’t set by Christ because he lived 2000 years ago. The same could be said about the Dali Lama, Confucious, etc. The point I am making is this. Following a set of rules is done by many humans in different parts of the world. We miss the point of what do we really believe in, we believe in the finished work of the Cross and THAT is how He affects our lives. This is what is celebrated at Easter. Grace to all mankind, that is the intent Christ had in his plan of salvation. Let this truth set you free, as it was given in love may it be recieved by us in love.
H.B.,
Time and again you arrogantly spout this same confused doctrine, never acknowledging that anyone else might understand anything. I’ve pointed out several times the basic flaws in your reasoning, yet you merely repeat the same things over and over.
Jesus told his apostles to teach others to follow his teachings. Paul said that those holy apostles had the SAME revelation he had. He also said, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.” You’d do well to heed his advice, even if it’s not found in those human books you’re so fond of.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
Tim; again as I always back what I say, in this comment my point is the love of Christ.
My direction in this life is love and the light that shines thru Christs love for us, past present and future generations. Enjoy Easter Sunday and its true meaning. LOVE.
H.B.,
I do my best to ignore your comments, since you only try to promote a certain doctrine rather than add to a discussion. I’m sorry that I let you get under my skin this time. I should do better.
For the record, we know that you believe that all that matters is the atonement, so Christians shouldn’t discuss holy living at all. Please don’t feel the need to continually inject that into our discussions.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
HB’s worldview is neatly addressed in an old snippet of poetry often attributed to WH Auden.
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