Was Jesus a Liberal?

I have seen a couple of bumper stickers lately that said that Jesus was a liberal. So is there any truth to that? Let's just go through a couple of issues that liberals believe in and see if Jesus would support that ideology.

Abortion-

This is kind of a no-brainer, right? We all know that one of the ten commandments says "Thou shalt not kill". Also, God spoke to Jeremiah in the old testament, saying: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations". Those two verses prove that God views children in the womb as having value and I think it is safe to say that He is against us killing these people before they can escape the womb.

Personal Property-

Many liberals claim that there is and should be no such thing as personal property. If you look in Acts 5: 1-11, you will see the story of Ananias and Sapphira. They sold a piece of property but secretly did not tithe the proper amount on that sale. When it is discovered, Peter says to them: "While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?" Meaning that yes, they owned private property, and yes they were held responsible for that property while it was in their possession.

Welfare-

The Bible is clear about laziness. II Thessalonians 3-10 "For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." However, there are many verses in the Bible that command us to take care of the poor and needy. You will not find any reference to a mandatory government-run welfare system, though. The Bible tells us to care for the poor in 3 ways: through the family, through the church, and through individual charity. (Deut. 14:28, 29, Numbers 18:24, Matthew 6:1-4 and 1 Timothy 5:3-16)

Death Penalty-

There are many references in the Bible that reflect the "eye for an eye" mentality that support capital punishment. The Bible goes further than just putting murderers to death, though. There are references that kidnapping, adultery, bestiality, sodomy, false prophecy, prostetution, rape, and many other sins should be met with a death sentence.

There are examples of mercy, such as when the Lord did not immediately kill David for committing adultery and murder, but it is important to note that this mercy was coming directly from God, not from the courts or the law of the land.

Same-sex Marriage-

This one is kind of a freebie as well. We know the story of Sodom and Gomorrah, which is where get the term "sodomy" from. Genesis 19:24 "The the Lord rained down on Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from out of heaven." (see interesting historical link here) I think that it is safe to say that if God destroyed two cities because of rampant sin and sodomy, He would never favor same-sex marriage.

These are just a couple of issues that are prominent in liberalism. I do not think that Jesus would with any one of them, let alone all of them.

If you would like to discuss this further, please leave a comment.

JESUS WAS NOT A LIBERAL!

Does God Put People into Power?

I have heard many Christians say that God knows best, He approves of those in power, and He allows them to be in power... so we should sit back and pray because He knows best.

I do not agree with this. Yes, God does no best. Does He make decisions for us? No. He answers our prayers (yes, no, wait), but He does not make our decisions for us.

God allows us to make good choices and poor choices. He has given us Free Will throughout our lives. Yes, He know who is is power, and He watches over us, but that does not mean that He approves of the people who are in authority over us.

What do you think?

Political Correctness

An elementary school principal in Michigan is under investigation for authorizing a field trip for 30 black students to meet with an African-American rocket scientist. Students who are not black were excluded from the outing -- a possible violation of a state law that bans racial favoritism in public schools. (click here to read full story)

Here is a recent Facebook conversation that I had with my friend Wendy on this article:

Me: Is this what we want to teach our kids? That segregation is only one way? That it is okay to exclude white kids from a field trip? Imagine the uproar if this story were reversed...

Wendy: Reverse discrimination is becoming quite an issue in many ways in our country. I know a stand needs to be taken. But how?

Me: First of all, Christians and Conservatives need to stand up against the Political Correct movement. We have been accused as racist, sexist, homophobes for years now. They use the word racist so frequently is has almost completely lost it's meaning. So we need to do what is right no matter what name they call us.

Secondly, we need to purge the words... "reverse-racism" and "reverse-discrimination". The definition of the two terms do not include a description of race. Blacks hating Asians, Asians hating Hispanics, etc... it is all racism.

I think our people are ready to move past racism. They are tired of it. But our politicians and supposed leaders are more interested in splitting us into groups and pitting us against each other for political gain. It is sad.

This is a good topic. If you don't mind, I would like to post it in my blog.

Wendy: Good thoughts. Please do post it on your blog. I am anxious to see the conversation that develops.

Thanks Wendy! What do you guys think?

Keep your Government out of my Church!

Separation of Church and State... you've heard the term batted around a hundred times, mostly by people who have something against the Church. But what does it really mean?

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." -1st Amendment of the United States Constitution

This really does not require much interpretation. It is obvious that the Founders wanted to be sure that Congress could not pass laws pertaining to religion or the practice of religion. So where do we get separation of Church and State? Is certainly is not in the constitution. Some say that it came from the notes of Thomas Jefferson. The problem is that these notes were never added to the Constitution and ratified.

What does this mean for us? It means that Government should keep their nose out of out Churches, that's what it means! That means that a Judge has no business saying that the National Day of Prayer is "unconstitutional". (story here)

I would like to commend President Obama for refusing to "cancel" the 2010 National Day of Prayer. It was a wise decision on his part.

On another note: I heard a commentator say just the other day that the 1st Amendment says to keep the out of the Church, it does not says to keep the Church out of the Government. We need more Christians to be active it Government. We need more Christians to be elected to office. Most of all, we need ALL Christians to help turn this Country back to God.