By Marilyn M. Barnewall
There is a big difference, you know. A Christian may go to church or may not but his or her primary spiritual purpose is to become a disciple of Jesus Christ. A lot of people go to church to be parishioners, not disciples. They want to feel good about themselves and to look good to others. We have a lot of politicians and journalists who fall into that last category.
Christians are unique individuals who understand that God provides insight and tools and we, His servants, use those gifts in service to Him. We are to implement the spiritual will of God in a world that seems dedicated to following every possible trail to evil. We are to love our neighbor (other Christians) as ourselves, and we are to love our enemy.
It is this eleventh Commandment from Christ – love thy enemy — that gets so many Christians in trouble. Though we are to love our enemy, we are not to love or support the evil they use to destroy the Judeo-Christian social order. We are to do whatever we can to stop it.
Churches have done a very poor job of explaining that loving someone does not mean letting them kill themselves or others or their country because of drug habits or violence or psychological problems based on hatred of those who do not think like they do.
A large number of people say they are Christians but it appears few really are. If you don’t believe me, use the Holy Bible as your resource. Many are called; few are chosen.
Some who say they are Christians view God as their giant ATM in the sky. When they want something, they ask and His job is to support their wants and needs. In other words, He is their servant, they are not His. Yes. We are to pray for the sick, the hurting, the damaged of our society and we know God will answer. I can attest to that, personally with sincere thanks to those who prayed for me.
We are not, however, to forget “Thy will be done.” The Lord’s Prayer does not say “my will be done.” And prayer does not replace “Onward, Christian Soldiers.” We are the soldiers; God is our General, to state it in worldly terms.
Remember the song “Where Are the Clowns?” written by Stephen Sondheim in 1973? During the past four years, I have asked: “Where are the Christian Soldiers?” They certainly were not in the United States Congress, the Department of State, our intelligence agencies, the Department of Justice, our courts, our Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many other places. God bless rare exceptions like Ted Cruz and other conservatives who walk the walk for showing their love of God via honesty and facts.
Churches provide sermons about the Bible to teach Christianity… Pastors explain the Bible to us. Each person, however, interprets the words of pastoral teaching on the basis of life experiences and vocabulary. They get little opportunity to ask questions during Sunday services and it’s intimidating to ask in front of so many people. As a result, many questions go unanswered or people misinterpret what Pastors say.
Pastors also comfort our spirit when we are ill or suffering from loss or life’s challenges. They give spiritual joy when we celebrate communion, marriage, baptism, etc., and there is, or should be, love among fellow disciples of God as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Based on the current political environment, it would certainly appear we are a nation of churches rather than Christians because there are so few soldiers willing to fight to keep America a nation of religious freedom. The Bible tells me I am never to accept evil. The way the 2020 Presidential election was stolen is evil… but progressive liberals think we should accept it and move on.
There is, however, no plan to help the 75 million people who voted for Donald Trump in 2020 move on. Churches hesitate to involve themselves in politics so they are of little help. They might lose their 501.C(3) tax-free status. People will never forget the governmental declaration that churches are non-essential while liquor stores are. In the battle between God and government, government won. Churches closed (God bless Pastor John F. MacArthur at Grace Community Church in California, and others who fought this). Christians won’t forget because to accept the evil of theft of this election is to partake in the evil. If you aren’t fighting it, you are supporting it.
It is true that God will handle everything.
There is a “God will do it for me” attitude amongst Christians that makes me wonder if they are the people the angel sent to to talk to John when he wrote Revelations 3: “15I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing,’ not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.” In other words, they were rich in a worldly way but were spiritually bankrupt.
Perhaps rather than asking God to save our nation – as millions of people are and should be doing right now – perhaps we should also be asking Him to give us insight as to how we can serve Him by keeping America a place where all people can choose to worship Him as their conscience, fed by the Holy Spirit, tells them.
How can you be a Christian soldier?
Do you have Facebook? Cancel it. Do you have Twitter? Cancel it. Replace it with Parler. Do you use Google? You Tube? Get Bit Chute. Find alternative services to all of these things. They are available. Why would a Christian soldier support the enemy by providing their enemies profits… money they are using to defeat you? If you just cannot do without your Facebook, I would suggest you look up what it means to be an idolater and then read the Ten Commandments.
In case you haven’t noticed, they – liberal progressives – are attacking the middle class. Who do you think owns all of those restaurants and beauty and barber shops that have failed because of ridiculous lockdowns caused by a planned virus? Who do you think will in about 90 days begin losing homes the mortgages of which they have been unable to pay because of the plandemic called Covid and the lockdowns it has caused because government closed independent businesses down? It is surely not the elites or upper classes. It’s the good old middle class — AGAIN!
A planned virus? Anyone who believes the Covid mania was and is just an accident is so far separated from reality there is little hope they will return to sanity. The timing of the China virus and the resulting lockdowns by liberal progressive governors were so precise as to result in millions of unlawful print ballots that caused our great President, Donald Trump, to lose an election he won.
The millions of people who run to get tested for Covid 19 are, usually, given a PCR test. The inventor (1985) of the PCR test, Dr. Kary Mullis, who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (1993) for discovering the PCR test being used to determine whether people have Covid 19, conveniently died at a young age in August 2019. .. just a month before the first victim died of the China flu in Wuhan, China. Mullis was interviewed several times and clearly states that the PCR test is not designed to identify viruses. Here is what he said:
“PCR is intended to identify substances qualitatively, but by its very nature is unsuited for estimating numbers. Although there is a common misimpression that the viral load tests actually count the number of viruses in the blood, these tests cannot detect free, infectious viruses at all; they can only detect proteins that are believed, in some cases wrongly, to be unique to HIV. The tests can detect genetic sequences of viruses, but not viruses themselves.”
I don’t know about you, but the virus and its impact on the election has resulted in my total lack of trust of anything I read in newspapers, hear on television, and to disbelieve every word that comes out of a politician’s mouth. I have no respect for the courts.
Perhaps the most painful realization of all: We are living in a lawless society. Don’t talk to me about the Constitution or the rule of law… they have disappeared. The refusal of our courts to hear solid evidence about election fraud proves there is no court system deserving of respect or confidence.
And that takes me back to God and to our churches.
In truth, each individual is a church… whether or not they choose to be. God set us up that way. People can reject it through choice (because God gave us choice).
Each person has a human body which must function compatibly with the rules of nature. Inside of our worldly body we have a Soul and a Spirit. Interestingly, it appears humans have a trinity of their own: a body, a Soul and a Spirit. It becomes a Holy Spirit upon being born again through baptism and belief. To Christians, God is, of course, a Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
It’s interesting how God created everything in Nature to be compatibly in balance with heaven, isn’t it?
As I have written in previous articles, God gave humans choice. Out of all of the creatures on earth, we are the only ones to whom He gave that gift. Perhaps He wants those around Him in eternity to have freely chosen to love Him. Perhaps He recognizes love from those who willingly overcome worldly difficulties and sometimes painful trauma in life after choosing Him… yet still love Him.
What is love worth if it is forced on you? Nothing. In fact, it is impossible to love any entity because you fear it. You may fear such an entity but you will never love that which you fear. Love is a choice… as is hatred.
For those who tell me the Bible insists I must fear God, I refer you to Proverbs 8:13 which says: “Fear of the Lord is hatred of sin.” I hate sin and thus fear God in a supportive, not an emotional, way.
What I have written above is my personal narrative. It may help you understand your own narrative better but we have individually unique narratives. I don’t suggest mine is right for you, but I do suggest you need your own, personal narrative. Write it down. Get to know who, not what, you are. Don’t tell me your gender, marital status, number of children… those are “what” statements… something you share with other people. If your narrative is coming from a group, it is not yours. It is theirs.
We are different people with different life experiences given to us by God to bring us closer to Him. No two people see the world or heaven or God the same way. As long as your narrative of life does not violate God’s Biblical narrative of His law and His interpretation of it, you are in sync with Him. You can only determine that by reading and understanding the nuances of the Bible. If your spiritual narrative violates His narrative, you’re probably in spiritual trouble… but that’s between you and God.
Liberal progressives are into group think and are fear motivated. They find safety and comfort in numbers. Being in lockstep with the group is the way they worship God… talking points based on hatred are their Sunday sermon. It is their Bible.
Conservatives are individualists and getting them to think alike is like trying to herd cats.
The point of the above explanations is that we live in a world where a near majority of Americans are into group rather than individual thinking. Populism, as it is called in the world of politics, is based on individualism, not group think. That is why the attack on President Donald Trump has been so vicious. There is nothing more threatening to fear-motivated groupies than individualists. And that is what liberal progressives will spend the next four years trying to eliminate if Joe Biden is seated in the Oval Office.
The first person who tells me I must accept as my president this unfortunate but mental misfit who stole an election is in great danger from my deplorable fist.
© 2021 Marilyn Barnewall – All Rights Reserved
E-Mail Marilyn Barnewall: marilynmacg@juno.com
