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Three Questions (Part II)

This is “Part II” of a three part series that features three questions designed to inspire some thought, as far as the practical application of God’s Word as a whole to some situations that don’t always get a lot of attention.

Here’s Question #2…

You’re the Good Samaritan. But instead of encountering the victim after they’ve been beaten and robbed, you encounter him as he’s being beaten and robbed. What does your ministry look like?

Life isn’t always sectioned off in a way where the resulting shapes are characterized by straight and even lines. In order for the Truth to make an impact, you have to follow Christ’s example and communicate it in a way that addresses, not just the situation in general, but the unique “shape” of the situation to include the personalities that are involved, the topic being addressed and the setting that you’re in (Jn 7:24).

Rarely are you going to be in a spot where only one verse applies. Instead, there will be several verses to consider which is why it’s so important to be taking your cue from God’s Spirit and His Wisdom as opposed to a collection of guidelines and techniques that you manufacture on your own based on a portion of God’s Instructions as opposed to the whole Handbook (2 Tim 3:16-17).

Standing up for what is right is not always done in the absence of a physical / violent altercation. There is an evil out there that doesn’t respond to a gentle rebuke or even a stern warning. And to twist Christ’s admonishment to “turn the other cheek” or God’s command to not take revenge on someone for a wrong they’ve done to you in order to justify not standing up to Goliath or to insist that Jesus was talking about a pocket New Testament when He told the disciples to go purchase a sword, is an irresponsible and inaccurate application of God’s Word.

‘Turning the other cheek” is the biblical response to an offense, not an assault…

As in much of Jesus’ teaching, pressing his illustration the wrong way may obscure his point. In fact, this would read Scripture the very way he was warning against: if someone hits us in the nose, or has already struck us on both cheeks, are we finally free to hit back? Jesus gives us a radical example so we will avoid retaliation, not so we will explore the limits of his example (see Tannehill 1975:73). A backhanded blow to the right cheek did not imply shattered teeth (tooth for tooth was a separate statement); it was an insult, the severest public affront to a person’s dignity (Lam 3:30; Jeremias 1963:28 and 1971:239). God’s prophets sometimes suffered such ill-treatment (1 Kings 22:24; Is 50:6). Yet though this was more an affront to honor, a challenge, than a physical injury, ancient societies typically provided legal recourse for this offense within the lex talionis regulations (Pritchard 1955:163, 175; see also Gaius Inst. 3.220). (“Avoid Retribution and Resistance”, IVP Commentary, accessed April, 2 2009)

And to suggest that the New Testament somehow nullifies every Divinely sanctioned use of force in the Old Testament is to suggest that God changes His mind when it comes either swinging your fist or firing a weapon (see Ps 44:3).

He doesn’t change His mind.

Ever (Num 23:19).

Judges 3:1-2 makes it clear that God placed a premium on making sure that the Israelites knew how to fight. It makes sense, given the number of times Israel was called upon to strap on their swords and do battle with the enemies of God.

In the New Testament, while Jesus does make it clear that to be reckless and hasty in resolving to remedy any and all disputes with a weapon is foolish (Those who live by the sword, die by the sword [Matt 26:52]), and He encourages believers to respond to insults and offenses by “turning the other cheek,” the context and verbiage of His admonishing the disciples to arm themselves taken along with God’s obvious endorsement of military force in the Old Testament compellingly demonstrates the Truth and Biblical place of “sanctified violence.”

So, if you were to come on a scene where bandits were beating and robbing someone, you’re doing the right thing by stopping them however you need to in order to stand up for what is right and protect those who may not be able to protect themselves.

For more reading on this subject, see “Sanctified Violence” at muscularchristianityonline.com

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Daily Broadside | Even Liberals Occasionally Get It Right

Daily Verse | Job 37:23
“The Almighty is beyond our reach and exalted in power; in his justice and great righteousness he does not oppress.”

It’s Tuesday and the honeymoon with June is over.

Every now and then I get surprised by someone in the ruling class who goes against stereotype. As a for instance: Bill Maher, who seems to regularly hew left-of-center, defending Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas rockets. That’s not the official narrative of the progressive or liberal Left. The official narrative is that Israel commits war crimes and is an apartheid state. Bill Maher says, “One of the frustrations I had […] is that I was watching this war go on in Israel … and it was frustrating to me because there was no one on liberal media to defend Israel, really.”

But I’m pleasantly surprised by two that I read yesterday. First, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, wrote the unanimous Supreme Court opinion that “rejected an illegal immigrant’s attempt to twist immigration law and create a loophole that would allow thousands of illegal immigrants to become lawful permanent residents.” More to the point, I was surprised that the decision was 9-0 with even Associate Justice Sonia “Wise Latina” Sotomayor agreeing. Here was the question before the court:

“Petitioner Jose Santos Sanchez entered this country unlawfully from El Salvador. Years later, because of unsafe living conditions in that country, the Government granted him Temporary Protected Status (TPS), entitling him to stay and work in the United States for as long as those conditions persist,” Associate Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, wrote in the opinion. “Sanchez now wishes to become a lawful permanent resident (LPR) of the United States. The question here is whether the conferral of TPS enables him to obtain LPR status despite his unlawful entry. We hold that it does not.”

In Sanchez v. Mayorkas, Kagan noted that U.S. immigration law, “applied according to its plain terms,” “prevents Sanchez from becoming an LPR. There is no dispute that Sanchez ‘entered the United States in the late 1990s unlawfully, without inspection.’”

This is very good news because the entire court agreed to apply the law “according to its plain terms.” How refreshing.

The other example I read about has to do with the Democrats trying to nuke the filibuster so that they can pass their radical agenda, such as the so-called “For the People Act.” Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) have both publicly stated that they will not vote to do away with the filibuster, and Manchin has said he will vote “No” on the FTPA.

Democrats in Congress have proposed a sweeping election reform bill called the For the People Act. This more than 800-page bill has garnered zero Republican support. Why? Are the very Republican senators who voted to impeach Trump because of actions that led to an attack on our democracy unwilling to support actions to strengthen our democracy? Are these same senators, whom many in my party applauded for their courage, now threats to the very democracy we seek to protect?

The truth, I would argue, is that voting and election reform that is done in a partisan manner will all but ensure partisan divisions continue to deepen.

With that in mind, some Democrats have again proposed eliminating the Senate filibuster rule in order to pass the For the People Act with only Democratic support. They’ve attempted to demonize the filibuster and conveniently ignore how it has been critical to protecting the rights of Democrats in the past.

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Yes, this process can be frustrating and slow. It will force compromises that are not always ideal. But consider the alternative. Do we really want to live in an America where one party can dictate and demand everything and anything it wants, whenever it wants? I have always said, “If I can’t go home and explain it, I can’t vote for it.” And I cannot explain strictly partisan election reform or blowing up the Senate rules to expedite one party’s agenda.

These are pragmatic Senators, both from “Red” states. Both want to keep being elected, and they know they represent more conservative constituencies that they have to listen to.

I don’t care why they plan to vote the way they have pledged to vote. I only care that they make it impossible for the Democrats to implement their terrible plans for the United States. The Senate is evenly divided, and these are two Democrats who are bucking the momentum. They are like the little Dutch boy who stuck his finger in a leaking dike to save his country.

Yes, Manchin and Sinema are still Democrats. But even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

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Daily Broadside | This Government Wasn’t Designed to Be Your Conscience

Daily Verse | 2 Chronicles 24:1
Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years.

It’s Friday and the end of the first full week of May. Spring is in the air but hasn’t landed yet.

One of my favorite quotes from our Founding Fathers is the one from John Adams that I referenced a couple of days ago. It is from a letter he wrote to the Massachusetts Militia on 11 October 1798. Below is the specific quotation in bold, situated in its paragraphical context.

While our Country remains untainted with the Principles and manners, which are now producing desolation in so many Parts of the World: while she continues Sincere and incapable of insidious and impious Policy: We shall have the Strongest Reason to rejoice in the local destination assigned Us by Providence. But should the People of America, once become capable of that deep simulation towards one another and towards foreign nations, which assumes the Language of Justice and moderation while it is practicing Iniquity and Extravagance; and displays in the most captivating manner the charming Pictures of Candour frankness & sincerity while it is rioting in rapine and Insolence: this Country will be the most miserable Habitation in the World. Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

This is a warning written by a man who was one of the central Founders of the United States form of government. Adams drafted the 1780 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which served as a model for the United States Constitution. Adams and others made edits to the draft of the U.S. Constitution before it was adopted by the United States.

John Adams was intimately involved with and intimately familiar with the structure and purpose of the U.S. Constitution. So when he makes an observation about it, we should listen to him. And he has plenty to say in this letter that both acknowledges and addresses human nature.

To set up the final sentences that comprise the quote, he starts by saying that if our country “continues Sincere,” remaining “untainted” by (political) practices that produce desolation in other parts of the world, that we will be most happy with our local lot in life. But he warns that should we become good fakers (“deep simulation,” e.g. pretending) with ourselves and other nations while, in fact, we are “rioting in rapine [the violent seizure of another’s property] and Insolence [rude, disrespectful; contemptuously impertinent],” our Country will become “the most miserable Habitation in the World.”

In other words, if we talk a good game to ourselves and to our friends but, in truth, we’re a country full of selfishness and greed, we will be a miserable people.

The reason for this is that the government does not have enough power to deal with human passions that run wild and unchecked by “morality and Religion.” Therefore, he concludes, “Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

Right there seems to be the crux of the problem in the United States. The Founders understood human nature and were willing to assume that where government left off, personal responsibility guided by Judeo-Christian teaching would fill the gaps.

And therein lies the problem. God is no longer central to our shared civic life together. We have retreated into separate sects, each claiming his right to do what the hell he wants and complaining when he can’t. God has been forced out of the public square and many people believe He should stay removed from our civil discussions.

In the vacuum left by God, however, the government steps in to guide your life and decides what is “good” and what is “bad.” In the United States, the government is trying to do what it was never meant to do: act as your conscience.

Have a good weekend.

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Daily Broadside | Gun Sales Setting New Records Every Month

Daily Verse | 2 Chronicles 20:12
“O our God, will you not judge them? For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.”

Wednesday and it’s Cinco de Mayo. I’m sure that someone out there thinks I shouldn’t mention it because that’s “cultural appropriation,” or something, but I live in the United States of America and I’m not appropriating it, I’m recognizing it.

In the wake of the mass shooting in Indianapolis last month, Resident Biden lashed out against gun violence after eight people were killed at a FedEx warehouse by a former FedEx employee. Here’s what he said:

And I strongly, strongly urge my Republican friends in the Congress, who refuse to bring up the House passed bill, to bring it up now. This has to end. It’s a national embarrassment. It is a national embarrassment, what’s going on. And it’s not only these mass shootings that are occurring every single day. Every single day, there’s a mass shooting this year in the United States if you count all those who were killed out on the streets of our cities and our rural areas. It’s a national embarrassment and must come to an end.

The folks who own weapons, the folks who own guns, they support universal background checks. A majority of them think we should not be selling assault weapons. Who in God’s name needs a weapon that can hold 100 rounds, or 40 rounds, or 20 rounds? It’s just wrong. And I’m not going to give up until it’s done.

I agree that the number of people killed by guns in the United States is a “national embarrassment.” I think it’s embarrassing that a nation founded on Judeo-Christian principles and given the chance to govern themselves through self-control and belief in the inherent dignity of their fellow man has completely blown their opportunity.

The problem is not guns. It’s not “easy access” or “loopholes” in the laws. The problem is the human heart. By and large, the country has thrown God out of the public square and it shows. As John Adams wrote in a letter to the Massachusetts Militia in 1798, “Because We have no Government armed with Power capable of contending with human Passions unbridled by morality and Religion. Avarice, Ambition, Revenge or Galantry, would break the strongest Cords of our Constitution as a Whale goes through a Net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious People. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.“

I bring this up because yesterday we learned that U.S. firearms sales rose for the thirteenth straight month in April, according to The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). “In April this year, 1.694 million background checks took place, a 0.9% increase over April 2020, according to the NSSF’s adjusted data. The data also shows there was a 21.1% increase in unadjusted NICS numbers, compared to April 2020.”

One of the greatest increases in gun ownership has been among black Americans, which is up 58.2%.

The reasons for the continued spike in gun sales are pretty obvious. It doesn’t take a genius to watch the Burning Looting and Murdering over the last year as the anarchists ran wild in multiple cities or to realize that the junior commies in government want to take your guns away.

“Americans are buying firearms for concerns for personal safety and for White House and Congressional efforts to limit and deny the ability to purchase certain firearms,” NSSF’s Director of Public Affairs, Mark Oliva, said in a statement. “The continued gun control statements by President Biden, many of which have been fact-checked and debunked as false, are driving sales.”

So it’s clear that people hear Biden, but aren’t listening to what he’s saying. In spite of his adamant denunciation of gun violence and his promise to curb the violence, people recognize that in a culture that is demonizing the police, they may have to be their own first responder. And if they’re going to be their own first responder, they better get a gun now before the government finds a way to severely restrict having one.

The greatest danger, however, is that should guns be outlawed or severely restricted, the government then has no meaningful resistance to whatever malevolent plans they have for We the People. To answer Biden’s question, “Who in God’s name needs a weapon that can hold 100 rounds, or 40 rounds, or 20 rounds?”—We the People, do. To prevent you and your minions from putting us all in reeducation camps.

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Daily Broadside: Obama is most likely a seditious traitor

I live a fairly even-keel emotional life. Not too many highs, not too many lows. But there are a few things that can quickly jack up my ire, and one of them is a betrayal of entrusted power.

We learned last week that the silent coup known as the Russia hoax went all the way to the top, to former president Barack Hussein Obama. The suspicion that it did had been hanging in the atmosphere surrounding the investigation into “Hurricane Crossfire,” the subversive effort by our nation’s top law enforcement officials and elected leaders in Congress to overthrow the presidency of Donald John Trump.

The question has been whether this scheme could have been launched without president Obama’s knowledge. Not to put too fine a point on it, but what we’re really asking is, could this plot have gotten traction without Obama’s approval?

It turns out that not only did he approve, but he personally guided the key players. In her devastating piece, “Obama, Biden Oval Office Meeting On January 5 Was Key To Entire Anti-Trump Operation,” Mollie Hemingway at The Federalist writes:

January 5: [Deputy Attorney General Sally] Yates, [FBI Director James] Comey, CIA Director John Brennan, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper briefed Obama on Russia-related matters in the Oval Office. Biden and Rice also attended. After the Obama briefing, the intelligence chiefs who would be leaving at the end of the term were dismissed and Yates and Comey, who would continue in the Trump administration, were asked to stay. Not only did Obama give his guidance about how to perpetuate the Russia collusion theory investigations, he also talked about Flynn’s conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak, according to both Comey and Yates. 

Take a moment to let that sink in: an outgoing American president conspired to overthrow an incoming American president. It’s astounding.

I was never a fan of president Obama for a variety of reasons, starting with his progressive ideology. By the time he left office after eight years, I was relieved that he was gone and prayed that Hillary Clinton would not follow his presidency with her own.

But my dislike of president Obama’s progressive vision pales in comparison to what we’ve now learned about his character: he broke his oath to the American people. He betrayed our trust and has severely damaged our 244-year-old republic with the actions of a third-rate dictator.

It’s dangerous and it needs to be confronted with severe consequences.

The cabal of people involved in perpetuating the Russia hoax need to pay for their treachery. We are a nation of laws and no one, as the Democrats like to sanctimoniously inform us, is above the law. Not even the president.

We agree. Now do your job, DOJ, and “let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:24).