Should Christians Avoid Culture Wars?

One of the most loved sections in all of the gospels is known as the Beatitudes (Matt 5:1-16) and the rest of Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount" (Matt 5-7). We are told to turn the other cheek when abused, pray for those who curse us, etc. How are we to respond when God's Truth is maligned in the culture? When the world's and culture's standards are an affront to the eternal standards of God's righteousness as found in the Bible? Do we walk away and just preach "Jesus"? Or do we engage, always being ready to give a defense for the hope that we have with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15)? Do we continue to be bold and speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15)? I see that Jesus answers this question for us. He is the perfect example as He engaged a culture which had much opposition to Him and His message of repentance from sin and belief in the good news of His mission to save sinners (Luke 19:10).

Below you will find an article written by Dr. Michael Brown. Even though I don't endorse everything he stands for (I can only fully endorse Jesus), I find his ministry a positive example at engaging the culture in a spirit of Love and Truth. You can find his latest article in the link below. I hope you read it.

As you do, meditate on Jesus' words from the Beatitudes. 11 "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely on account of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad because your reward is great in heaven, for they persecuted the prophets before you in the same way. 13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. 14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. (Matthew 5:11-15)

https://askdrbrown.org/library/was-there-way-church-avoid-culture-wars

 If we aren't the light that shines the truth to a dying world, who will stand in the gap? ~Mondo

Free Screening of the New Pilgrims Progress Movie

This Sunday, April 28, 2019 at 6:30 P.M., we have received permission to show the brand new animated movie of the classic book, The Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan.  We are going to have a potluck dinner at 5:30 P.M. prior to the movie, so consider joining us.  Here is the trailer for the movie.

Are Kittens More Valuable than Humans?

Political parties and specific ideological platforms are irrelevant to the advancement of God's Kingdom.  This isn't a political post.  As Christians our "party" should be the "Monarchist" party as Jesus is the King of Kings and we await for His Glorious return to set up a perfect system of government.  Jesus said His Kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) and so we look forward to His return!

What do we make of the latest insanity where members of our U.S. Congress are showing the depravity of their their thinking through their promotion of legislation that demonstrates their value of a kitten over a human made in the image of God?

Romans 1:21 and 28 reveal that when a society abandons God, He will eventually reveal His wrath against that society by allowing their hearts to become so dark and vile, that even their minds and thinking will be unable to reconcile plain contradictory or heinous actions.  This is exactly what we are witnessing in our government.  My prayer is that God will grant these people repentance.

See this article below:

https://www.christianheadlines.com/contributors/michael-foust/democrats-push-pro-kitten-bill-days-after-backing-human-infanticide.html?mc_cid=2bcfbd3cb1&mc_eid=5eb655b7a3

A Transparent Appraisal of the Immigration Issue?

I came across this article highlighting comments made by the President of Egypt. I wonder if we could get him to give this assessment in front of the United Nations General Assembly.  Check it out.

The Leader Of Egypt Schools Islamist's On Immigration To The West

When a world leader speaks candidly -- especially with issues having to do with Islamism -- do we judge him based on the truth of his words or if his words are politically correct?

Speaking at the World Youth Forum held in Egypt last month, Egypt's President Adbul Fattah el-Sisi participated in a session where he answered questions from the floor.

The following is an extremely candid answer from el-Sisi to the question: Why are world leaders closing their doors to immigration?

His answer speaks volumes to the problems of the growth of Islamism in the West and the lack of integration by Islamist immigrants in Western countries.

We imagine if a Western leader would have spoken the same words, he would have been lambasted as an Islamophobe. Yet, here is the answer el-Sisi felt free to say:

"This question was put to me by Mohammed Kassim, a young Afghan: Why world leaders are closing their doors to immigration?

"I don't want to go very deep into this issue. Every country has the right to protect its people and their interests and should respect human rights, but in a framework that allows it to preserve its national interests.

"Instead of asking why these countries are closing their doors to immigration, you should be asking yourself why Afghans in Afghanistan don't care about the fate of their country.

"Why, for the last 40 years, have they been killing each other and self-destructing? This situation also applies to other countries like Pakistan and Egypt, too - and Syria, Libya, Iraq, Yemen and Somalia. Why are they doing this?

"We are tearing ourselves apart in our own countries. We then have the nerve to ask from countries that are toiling night and day to make progress in their countries, protect their people and maintain a certain standard of living to let us in and share the fruit of their labors - simply because we are at each other's throats in our own countries!

"... I'm not against them and I'm not with them the countries that are not taking in immigrants. I'm just trying to be objective and fair in addressing this issue.

"We must be critical of ourselves: Are we keeping our own countries safe or not? Are we as leaders prepared to step aside? Why can't the leaders of the countries I am talking about be more just? Why can't they be more loving and respectful of their own people ...?"

"Why can't the leaders of these countries sit together and make less demands of one another and not close the door to each other. Why can't they talk to one another so they can solve the problems in Afghanistan or Syria or Iraq or Libya? Why?

"You are mad at the leaders of the European countries - the leaders of England, Germany, Italy, etc., who close their borders to protect the fruit of many long years of hard work and effort that went into building their evolved society.

"You want them to open their doors so we can go there and demand that they accommodate our own culture there? Should we think we have the right to demand our own work ethic/ culture there which is different from the work ethic and [culture] upon which these countries were built on? Of course not!

"Our work ethic is different from theirs. They are hard workers and they are committed to this rigorous work ethic ... In contrast, we are always making allowances asking for privileges in an exaggerated way.  Do you want to go with this culture?

"Let's talk about my Egyptian culture, so no one will be offended. I want to have all my needs satisfied without contributing anything. Isn't that our culture, I ask you?  

"For example, one of the high-ranking officials from Europe came and asked me, 'Why is your labor force so underutilized? It seems like you people don't understand your own interests.' I told him we can't use our labor force more than we already are. Why can't we? Because of our customs/work ethic. If an idea would be in line with the customs of our people, it will succeed. If not, we will have a clash among ourselves.

"Do you want to emigrate with your culture and do you consider that to be non-negotiable? You are saying, 'This is who we are and you have to accept us.'

"No! If you go to a country that agrees to host you, you must have complete respect for its laws, customs, traditions and culture. But you aren't ready to do this; we are not ready to do this.

"If you are not prepared to do this, so don't go! Yet you want them to open the door for you so you can get in and cause problems in their countries. No!

"I'm not defending them, of course not. But I'm trying, as I told you, to comment on this situation according to my understanding of it.

"If you have been fighting for 40 years among yourselves, you want them to open the door for you? No! If you want to solve your problems, solve them within your own country.

"That's why I say to the Egyptians, 'Take care of your own country!' Instead of asking others to open their doors to us, let our land be enough for us -- and in fact it is enough for us.

"In Egypt, there is enough room for all Egyptians. We should not engage in confrontations with one another and destroy everything, then tell our youth who want to live elsewhere to go and live in another country. No!

"We must resolutely confront our problems and stop the bloodshed in our countries, understand the fundamentals of our country and cooperate with each other through dialogue and discussion.

"I am not with or against countries that don't open their doors to immigrants. Whoever opens the door for us, I said, "Thank you and it is appreciated." As for those who close the door to us, we have no one to condemn but ourselves.

Related link:

http://prophecynewswatch.com/article.cfm?recent_news_id=2811

Pontius Pilate Ring Found?

There has been an fascinating rediscovery of a ring, remotely possible to have been owned by the infamous Prefect of Judea who sentenced Jesus to be killed through crucifixion.  There are two articles on this which are informative.

Times of Israel Article

Live Science Article.

Regardless of whether the actual Pilate owned this ring, it reminds us of the accuracy of the names and places that occur in the archaeological record (Herodion in this case) in a specific context of the 1st century A.D. which the Bible correlates.

You can compare this to other alleged "Holy Books" which continually fail to have ANY archaeological or historical correlations.  For information on the comparison between the Bible's history as compared with Archaeology and the Book of Mormons see the following video:

Elon Gold on Israeli Humor

Going to Israel is a spiritual, but also fun experience in many ways.  Israelis are great people, but also have their own idiosyncrasies like the rest of us.  Here is Elon Gold sharing about Israeli humor with the United Nations.

Behind the Scenes of the Israel / Palestinian Conflict

Back in 2003, I had the opportunity to go to Israel and be involved in the "Experience Israel" team led by Justin Kron. We not only toured the land, but also spent 5 days doing missions work and evangelism by handing out books and talking to Israelis on the beaches and boardwalks. Anyone who thinks that the conflict is not complex doesn't understand.

My friend Justin has been faithful to take young people (under 35) on these annual summer trips to Israel and other Palestinians areas where they have been able to get a glimpse of the history and modern situations.  He has written a blog about it here. Check it out.

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/a-day-of-blessings-and-curses-in-the-west-bank/ 




~Mondo